Awareness and Attitude of Wives of Laborer Outmigrants Originating from Indian Subcontinent Towards Emergency Contraceptives- A Multi-Country Study

Objective : The present study aims to analyze the attitude and awareness of wives of male migrants (WMM) towards EC (Emergency Contraceptives Pills) residing in either of three countries of the Indian subcontinent (India, Bangladesh, and Nepal). Further, the present study also aims to identify the socioeconomic determinants of the EC awareness of WMM. Methods : A cross-sectional survey of 621 WMM was conducted across multiple low-income sites in the three countries. Findings: The majority of the respondents (77.6%) reported being aware of EC methods, out of which the majority (32%) reported their friends circle to be the primary source of knowledge followed by husband (23.4%), family members (19.9%) and healthcare workers (9.8%), respectively. About 56% of the respondents reported that they consumed EC pills more than thrice in the last year. The study discovered that WMM engaged in unprotected intercourse about 5 times (SD= ±1.6) on average in the last year. While the reported consumption of EC pills by WMM was 2.6 times (SD= ±1.2) on an average during the same year. Regression analysis revealed that ‘place of husband’s migration’ is the strongest determinant of WMM’s EC awareness (OR=3.67, p