Challenges of Male Contraceptive Uptake in Indonesia: Opinion of Married Couples

For more than a decade, the adoption of male contraceptive methods in Indonesia was very low compared to female methods. Yet, in some settings family planning programs focused heavily on female contraceptive services, while male contraceptive services tend to be ignorant. Information from both husbands and wives is needed to obtain an accurate understanding of contraceptive use-behavior within married-couples. Hence, the objective of this study is to investigate factors associated with male contraceptive use among Indonesian couples. This study uses the couple-matched data from the 2017 Indonesia Demographic and Health Survey (IDHS). The analytical sample included 8,427 couples. Chi-square tests and binary logistic regression models were utilized for data analysis. Findings from the bivariate and binary logistic regressions indicate that couples lived in urban areas, couples who attained secondary and higher education, couples who do not want another child, couples who discuss family planning with their spouses, and couples whose wives experienced side effect of female contraception were significantly associated with male contraceptive uptake among Indonesian couples. The results suggest that increasing male contraceptive uptake should be encouraged through spousal communication about family planning.