Afghanistan Mortality Survey 2010 - Measure DHS

difference may be due to differences in the way questions on contraceptive knowledge were posed. TheAHS 2006 and the MICS 2003 asked a general question on whether currently married women had heardof a method of family planning, and if they responded in the affirmative, they were asked to name themethod they had heard of, and probed for any additional methods that they may have heard but did notmention. In contrast, the AMS 2010 asked currently married women if they had heard of each of the ninemodern methods and two traditional methods by mentioning the name of each method separatelyfollowed by a description of each method.3.4.2 Current Use of ContraceptionCurrent use of contraception is defined as the percentage of women who reported that they wereusing a family planning method. The level of current use—usually calculated among currently marriedwomen—is the most widely used and valuable measure of the success of family planning programs. Table3.15 shows the percent distribution by age of currently married women by the specific family planningmethods they were using at the time of the interview. More than one-fifth of currently married women usesome method of family planning (22 percent), with the vast majority (20 percent) using a modern method.The most common method currently used is injectables (7 percent), followed by the pill (5 percent) andLAM (4 percent). Among traditional methods, the most commonly used method is withdrawal, which isused by 1 percent of currently married women.Contraceptive use varies by age. Use is lowest in the youngest age group, presumably becausethese women are in the early stages of family building. Current use of any method rises steadily from 9percent among women age 15-19, peaks at 29 percent among women age 35-39, and falls slightly to 28percent among women age 40-44 and then to 21 percent among the oldest age group. Female sterilizationis most used by women age 35 and older, while injectables, the pill and LAM are used by all age groups.Table 3.15 Current use of contraception by agePercent distribution of currently married women age 15-49, by contraceptive method currently used, according to age, Afghanistan 2010AgeAnymethodAny Femalemodern sterilizationmethodMalesterilizationPill IUDModern methodInjectablesImplantsMalecondomLAMAnytraditionalmethod RhythmTraditional methodWithdrawalFolkmethodNotcurrentlyusing15-19 9.0 8.0 0.0 0.0 2.1 0.2 1.2 0.0 0.9 3.5 1.0 0.3 0.7 0.0 91.0 100.0 1,98920-24 15.9 14.5 0.0 0.0 4.4 0.8 2.8 0.1 1.9 4.6 1.4 0.2 1.1 0.1 84.1 100.0 5,22725-29 21.2 19.3 0.4 0.0 5.0 1.3 5.8 0.0 2.1 4.6 2.0 0.4 1.4 0.2 78.8 100.0 5,25030-34 25.7 23.3 0.6 0.0 5.7 1.7 8.5 0.0 2.3 4.3 2.4 0.4 1.7 0.3 74.3 100.0 3,97035-39 29.0 26.6 2.3 0.1 7.3 1.7 10.0 0.1 1.8 3.3 2.4 0.3 1.8 0.3 71.0 100.0 3,92240-44 28.0 25.4 3.8 0.1 7.4 1.8 9.3 0.1 1.2 1.5 2.7 0.4 1.7 0.5 72.0 100.0 2,99145-49 20.9 19.5 4.3 0.2 4.2 1.6 7.8 0.1 0.5 0.7 1.4 0.1 0.8 0.5 79.1 100.0 2,389Total 21.8 19.9 1.4 0.0 5.3 1.3 6.5 0.1 1.7 3.6 1.9 0.3 1.4 0.3 78.2 100.0 25,738Total (excludingSouth zone) 24.9 22.5 1.7 0.0 6.0 1.4 7.2 0.0 2.0 4.0 2.4 0.4 1.9 0.1 75.1 100.0 16,891TotalNumberofwomen3.4.3 Current Use of Contraception by Background CharacteristicsThe study of differentials in current use of contraception is important because it helps to identifysubgroups of the population to target for family planning services. Table 3.16 presents the percentdistribution of currently married women by their current use of family planning methods, according tobackground characteristics. This table allows comparison of levels of current contraceptive use amongmajor population groups. It also permits an examination of differences in the method mix among currentusers within the various subgroups.56 | Fertility, Marriage, and Family Planning