Agreement and concordance regarding reproductive intentions and contraception between husbands and wives in rural ballabgarh, India

Traditionally, women have been the chief respondents in most demographic and health surveys focusing on family planning; the role of men has been limited. However, in recent years there has been realization of the importance of men's role in family planning. To assess the levels of agreement and concordance between husbands and wives regarding reproductive intentions and contraception. A cross-sectional survey was carried out in 200 randomly selected married couples (in the age range of 15-44 years) in village Dayalpur, Haryana. Data pertaining to reproductive intentions and contraception was collected and the level of agreement (kappa statistics) between husbands and wives was calculated. The observed concordance was 67.5% for ideal family size, 84.5% for contraceptive attitude, 88.5% for fertility desire, 93.5% for unmet need, and 97% for report of number of currently living children. The adjusted kappa statistic varied from a low of 0.43 (P