Socio-economic determinants of modern contraceptive use among married women in Kerala, Bihar and North-East India: a comparative analysis

Background: The various effective ways to use contraceptive methods taken divergent steps toward attaining the SDG target of universal access to sexual and reproductive health care services by 2030. However, due to the lack of widespread use of contraceptive methods by married women due to the misconceptions about female contraceptive methods and lack of proper information, women are often reluctant to family planning, and men have to tolerate the problem. So, it is essential to study the significant determinants of modern contraceptive methods. The present research aimed to examine the trend of use of modern contraceptive methods among currently married women using data from latest three rounds of NFHS in Kerala, Bihar, and North-East India. Also, to identify the significant covariates that influence the use of modern contraceptives. Methods: A multivariate logistic regression to estimate the odds ratio (OR) for various covariates that are found to be significantly associated with modern contraceptive use. Results: There is a decline in modern contraceptive use from NFHS-3 to NFHS-4 but increases in NFHS-5. Kerala shows the highest prevalence among the three regions. Age of women, educational level, religion, ethnicity, place of residence, desire for more children, number of living children, ideal number of children, wealth index, and media exposure are important covariates that significantly influence the use of modern contraceptive methods. Conclusions: However, the educational level of women, except for higher education and ethnic groups belonging to OBC, does not affect the behavior of using modern contraceptives significantly.