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KMID : 0378019670100010069
New Medical Journal
1967 Volume.10 No. 1 p.69 ~ p.84
Study on the Relation of Socio-Cultural Factors to Conception Control in Korea


Abstract
in 1962 the Korean economic growth rate was 2.6%, as compared to an estimated 3% population increase.. In recognition of this. fact that gains in improving our standard of living were being offset by concurrent gains in population growth, the national government included family planning in its Five Year Plan, and set the goals of reducing the rate of population growth to 2.5% by 1966 and to 2.0% by 1971.
Along with such a national family planning program, the Department of Preventive Medicine, Yonsei University, College of Medicine initiated a pilot study of family planning in rural Korea, Koyang in order to demonstrate the possibilities of reducing the community birth rate by introducing simple and feasible contraceptive methods into a predominantly rural population The experiences and findings gained in this Koyang study, which were reported elsewhere by Yang, Bang and Kim, provided a guideline to help determine the basic factors on which to develop the national family planning program.
However, in spite of the rapid and far reaching spread of the national family planning program and the considerable amount of budget and personnel resources used in 1962-1964, there had been no baseline data to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of the program.
In order to obtain such essential data, a nationwide sample survey was conducted as a joint and cooperative effort of the Yonsei University, Planned Parenthood Federation of Korea, Ministry of Health and Social Affairs and Economic Planning Board in April 1964 by which to assess the current status of family planning and to provide some basic data to measure its effectiveness for the on-going program in family planning.
Purpose of the Study
In the present paper, utilizing the survey data from the national sample, the author has undertaken a study to measure what extent the family planning program has spread in Korea in terms of know-ledge, attitude, and practice of the family planning and to analyze how such family planning variables are related to socio-cultural backgrounds of Korean couples.
The Data and Method of Analysis
All our data are from interviews with Korean married women in the child bearing years (1550) and interviewed in 1964. In sampling design, multiple stratified random sampling with 1/1,000 sampling fraction was applied, and 4,867 households (equivalent to 1% of inhabitants in Korea in 1964) were sampled. From among those sampled households, 4,008 wives and 3,966 husbands were interviewed. Only 3,805 households were considered to be eligible for the purpose of our study as we limited the study to the households in which one or more married women under 50 years of age are currently living with their husbands.
Thus, in this survey 4,008 wives and 3,966 husbands were interviewed from April 15 to 23, 1964, by 180 enumerators of Economic Planning Board to whom a two-day training was given by the Yonsei University. The questionnaires designed by the Department includes 19 questions relevant to knowledge, attitude and practice in family planning, fertility and socio-cultural background of the respondents as shown in the attached.
In analysis, we deal with two groups of variablesone related to family planning, and the other to the socio-cultural background of the respondents. Family planning variables (as dependent variables) include; knowledge of contraceptive methods, attitude toward family planning and number of children, and practice of contraception,
Socio-cultural variables (as independent variables)are limited to age, education and occupation, residence, and number of living children.
In the tabulation, both dependent and independent variables were first tabulated, then, we, cross tabulated both variables in order to see how the dependent variables are affected by each class of the. independent variables.
Findings
A. Knowledge of family planning;
1. 71% of wives and 97% of husbands had heard of the word "family planning" and the rate were higher among young couples aged under 39 than that aged over 40.
2. 51% of wives and 62y, of husbands knew of contraceptive methods such as condom, sterilization, foam tablet, rhythm method and coitus interruptus. This contraceptive knowledge was known to 67% of city and 46% of women in the rural county.
3 The media through which they had heard of contraceptive method were acquaintances, magazines,. health centers, lecture meetings, National Reconstruction Movement workers, physicians and drug-stores in that order But there were remarkable differences between urban and rural areas. In the counties, the order of media from which they had heard of contraceptive method was health center, radio, acquaintances, magazines, lectures, National Reconstruction Mlovement workers, physicians and drugstores while in cities this. -knowledge was through acquaintances, radio, magazines, newspapers, physicians, health centers, lectures, National Reconstruction ~Jovement workers and drug-stores.
B. Attitude toward family planning
1. Ideal number of children
Their ideal number of children (LN.C.) averaged 4.1 (2.5 sons and 1.6 daughters) and there was little difference between husband and wife, excluding those who had never thought of such an ideal number of children.
But the number differed Iargely by the age of respondents. Wives under 34 and husbands under 39 wished 2 sons and 1 daughter as their ideal number of children while those over 35 in wives and in husbands over 40 were 3.2 as their I.N.C.
The ideal number of children varied noticeably by the occupation of the respondent. The rural respondents wanted 4.2 children (2.6 sons and 1.6 daughters) while in the city respondents wanted 3.7 (2.3 sons and 1.4 daughters).
Attitude toward contraception
of wives and 45.1% of husbands wanted to practice contraception. Among those who disagreed to practice contraception, 60% of them wanted more children, 24% disagreed due to their old age, 2% had had sterilizing operations. Less than 1% of the respondents were against contraception due to religious and ethical reasons.
Wives in the age group 3039 wanted to practice contraception in the highest percentage (61%). Only 42% of wives residing in rural areas wanted to practice contraception while in cities 53% wanted to. The women who had 4 or 5 children wanted most to practice contraception.
It was found that approval of contraception for spacing of children was considered good by 11% of women who had no children, 23% of women who had 1 child, 305% of women who had 2 children and 45% of women who had 3 children.
C Practice of contraception
1. Rate of practicing contraception
Among 4,008 respondents (wife), 9% or 364 women were practicing contraception, 3% or 115 women had ever practiced contraception and 39% or 1,951 women had never practiced even though they knew of one or more contraceptive methods. The responses of husbands were about the same as those of the wives.
The percentage of current users by age was highest in the 3035 (13.5%) and next in the 2029 age group (8%). In urban areas 19% of the interviewed women were practicing contraception while in rural area only 6% were practicing.
2. Kind of method practicing
The common contraceptive methods used were foam tablet (25%), rhythm method (23%), condom (22%). Other methods were jelly (9%), douche (6%), coitus interruptus (5%), sterilization operation (2%), diaphragm (2%), and others (3%). There was small difference by age and by residence.
D. Fertility
1. Number of five-births
The average number of Live-births of the questioned women so far delivered was 4.15 (4.06 in urban, 4.18 in rural). The average number of Iive-births by age was 4.24 in the 3034 age group and 6.46 in the 4549 age group. And those by duration of marriage were 3.8 children in the 1014 age group, 5.0 in 1519 year group, 6.1 in 2024, 6.8 in 2529, 7.0 in the group of 30 years or older respectively.
2. Current pregnancy
The number of women who were definitely pregnant at the time of the survey was 354 or 8.8% and those who were doubtful of pregnancy was 151 or 3.8%.
3. Induced abortion
r 93% of women had never had an induced abortion. The average number of induced abortions
s + in those who had had an induced abortion was 1.6 per woman. Among those who were 3039
age group, 9.7% had had an induced abortion as the highest percentage. Of those who had
al t had 1519 Years of marital life 10.6%had had one or more induced abortion, indicating the
d highest percentage. 15.5% of the women residing in urban areas have ever had an abortion, and
the rate was higher than that of the rural woman which was 4.1%.
4. Sterility
7.2% of total number of respondents (wife) were sterile. Among those 1.3% had primary sterility and 5.9% had secondary sterility.
Summary
In order to evaluate the national family planning program in Korea, 4,008 wives and 3,966 husbands were interviewed from April 15 to 23, 1964.
In the present paper, the author has analyzed such a survey data to measure what extent the family planning program has spread in Korea in terms of knowledge, attitude and practice of the family planning and to analyze how such family planning variables are related to socio-cultural backgrounds of Korean couples. A brief summary of findings are follows:
1. This survey proved that a large number of people has been exposed to the information and education services of the family planning program, and high proportion of couples has been informed about the word of family planning as well as the methods of contraception.
2. A strong consensus existed in all strata of the society that a moderate number of children is desirable. The husbands and wives wanted three, four, or five children-preferably with at least two sons. There was little indication of desire for the very large family.
3. Under current mortality conditions, however, most couples were having the children they wanted by the time they were in their thirties.
4. An overwhelming majority approved the idea of family planning and favored some type of family limitation. The major objection to family planning lies in the age-old affection for large families, and not necessarily due to religion or a code of ethics.
5. Therefore, to control the excess births, some were having induced abortion but a sizable minority had tried some form of family planning.
6. As might be expected, this analysis proved that the modern strata with lowest ideal number of children and most practice of family planning were identified as the most Iiterate and educated, those with the least farm background, those employed in the modern economic sector.
7. It was also clear that the demand for and interest in family planning were not limited to an elite modern group. The farmers and the illiterates, for example, wanted about the same thing with respect to family size, but they seemed to need information and services to move them to action.
Thus, these findings helped to shape the form and scope of the national family planning program in giving the first priority to help those who wanted to limit family size and to reach the less advanced strata. Finally, this analysis of the survey data should help not only in evaluating the on-going national family planning program but aalso in making plans for target populations in the next stages of the progrm in family planning.
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