Prevalence of Contraception in Southeast Asia

Abstract

Background: Contraception is an effective way of planning pregnancies and avoiding unintended pregnancies, which can be beneficial for population control and obstetric health problems, reducing pregnancy-related morbidity and mortality. Although substantial improvement has been made for better coverage of family planning services worldwide, there is still a large gap in effectively meeting the contraceptive needs and family planning goals in LMICs. Methods: We conducted electronic literature searches in PubMed, Google Scholar, and Science-direct for relevant articles published from 2012-2022. All study designs were selected to retrieve all the available literature, PRISMA criteria were followed first with the duplicates removed, and the articles were screened based on title and abstract. After a comprehensive search through various databases, we included 9 studies in our systematic review. Results: Southeast Asian contraception prevalence for modern contraceptives (47%) is less than the global average (56%). The CPR was found to be highest for Thailand, followed by Indonesia Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos, Philippines, Cambodia, and Timor. It was found that Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Philippines, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam had higher contraceptive rates in the rural populations while Myanmar was found to have higher urban contraceptive rates (57.3%). Most countries involve higher contraceptive prevalence in women with less than secondary education, with Myanmar having higher contraceptive rates (57.8%) in women with secondary or higher education. Conclusion: This study concludes that Southeast Asia has an average contraception rate of 46%, which is in line with the 47%, as mentioned by the Asian Development Bank, 2012.