Study shows pill is the most used form of birth control in Malaysia

A study carried out by fourth year medical students of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) has shown that taking contraceptive pill is the most common method for birth control.

Female sterilization and condoms followed suit in the “Ideal Family Planning For A Wholesome Family” study.

The results were based on a two-month study of 157 married people between the age of 18 and 49 living at the SEDC housing estate in Jalan Sukan, Malaysia.

Based on the study, 54.2% practised family planning and 94.4% of the couples discussed among themselves before making a decision.

The study revealed that the most frequently used birth control method was the pill (50.7%), female sterilisation (22.5%) and condoms (18.3%).

The same study also revealed that 48.9% of the people had good knowledge of family planning and their main source of information was from health authorities and pharmacies.

Some 42.3% said the main reason for practicing family planning was to reduce the number of children, while 49.3% said they did not practice family planning due to their desire for more children.

And 33.3% who did not practise family planning said they were satisfied with the number of children they had.

According to Unimas medicine and health sciences faculty head Assoc Prof Dr. Kamaluddin Bakar, the main objective of conducting the study was to improve the level of knowledge, attitude and practices of family planning of the residents at the housing estate.