Utilization of Male Targeted Short Message Service to Enhance Family Planning Uptake among Spouses in Marsabit County, Kenya
| dc.contributor.author | Matoke, Vincent Omwenga | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-03-13T08:06:00Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2026-03-13T08:06:00Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2025-11 | |
| dc.description | A Research Thesis Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Reproductive Health) in the School of Health Sciences of Kenyatta University. November, 2025 Supervisors Eliphas Gitonga Isaac Owaka | |
| dc.description.abstract | Family planning helps in regulating the number of children and determine healthy spacing and timing of births between pregnancies. The global contraceptive prevalence stands at 49.0%, Sub-Saharan Africa accounting for 29.0 %, Kenya at 56.9% and in Marsabit County stands at 5.6%. Low contraceptive prevalence has also been associated with increased maternal, neonatal, infant and child mortality as well as reduced opportunities for education and employment for women who are unable to delay initiation of childbearing. Male spouse involvement on matters of family planning deserves attention. Male spouses can be involved through providing culturally friendly health education with child spacing messages rather than family planning itself. This study aimed to evaluate the utilization of male targeted short message service in enhancing family planning uptake among their spouses in Marsabit County. This study adopted a pre-test and posttest quasi experimental study design involving randomly selected 220 couples from Laisamis and Moyale sub-counties. Intervention of male targeted short message service was offered to male spouses from Moyale sub-county while Laisamis subcounty was used as a control at a ratio of 1:1 for a period of 4 months. The data collection instruments used included a questionnaire and key informant interview guides. Quantitative data analysis was done using SPSS version 22.0 while qualitative were categorized and analyzed thematically. At baseline, descriptive statistics, chi-square and Fischer’s exact were used to analyze socio-demographic factors, level of knowledge, nature of attitude and health system factors at a confidence interval of 95% and an error of precision of 0.05. At evaluation, logistic regression analysis and McNemar test were used to measure the effectiveness of SMS intervention. The results were presented in form of tables, pie-charts and graphs. All the required ethical and logistical considerations were adhered to accordingly. The results revealed that at baseline level of uptake was 13.2% and 15.4%, high level of knowledge 14.0% and 12.0% and positive attitude 38.6% and 6.8% for control and intervention arms respectively. Uptake of family planning was increased by 3.6 times though use of short message service (OR 3.6, P<0.001 CI: 1.9159 – 6.7155). Male targeted short message service increased level of knowledge significantly (OR 4.173, P 0.001), changed nature of attitude (OR 2.7335, P 0.004) and male involvement in family planning (OR 4.4306, P 0.001). There was no association between all the health system factors and uptake of family planning in the control arm. In the intervention arm, there was significant statistical association between availability of FP services at the nearest facility (p*=0.03), main source of information (p*=0.041), male friendliness of clinics offering FP services (p*=0.04) and uptake of family planning among the respondents. The study concluded that the level of uptake was low but with SMS intervention knowledge increased, attitude changed, males were involved and thus uptake increased. The study recommends the integration of SMS intervention in provision of services, scale up of dissemination of information though SMS, provision of culturally appropriate messages, development of guidelines, engaging community leaders and setting up of more male friendly clinics. | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://ir-library.ku.ac.ke/handle/123456789/32733 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher | Kenyatta University | |
| dc.title | Utilization of Male Targeted Short Message Service to Enhance Family Planning Uptake among Spouses in Marsabit County, Kenya | |
| dc.type | Thesis |