Background
Quality of counseling received during family planning (FP) service provision is associated with contraceptive uptake and continuation. Although Patent and Proprietary Medicine Vendors (PPMVs) and Community Pharmacists (CPs) are the leading source of modern contraceptives in the private sector, little or no information is available on the quality of information exchange with clients. As part of IntegratE pilot study, we measured the quality of counseling received from CPs and PPMVs using the method information index plus (MII+). Specifically, what are clients' characteristics associated with high quality counseling (MII+) by state?
Methodology
Between June 2019 and February 2021, we collected data from 834 women aged 18-49 who had visited an IntegratE trained CP/PPMV for FP services in the last 2 weeks prior to the survey in Kaduna and Lagos states, Nigeria.
The quality of counseling received (MII+) was constructed using questions on whether a woman was told about other FP methods, possible side effects, what to do if side effects were experienced, and possibility of switching to another method. A binary variable, MII+ was created, with women who responded "yes" to all four questions coded as 1, and women who reported yes to less than four of these questions coded as 0. Clients' characteristics and quality of counseling were tested for association using χ2 tests.
Results
Almost two-third (61%) of women received complete information of the MII+. In Lagos, level of education, and household wealth index of women were significantly associated with receiving complete information. Religion, type of facility and fertility intentions were significantly associated with women receiving complete information in Kaduna.
Conclusion
Findings showed that quality of counseling received from trained CPs and PPMVs is very encouraging. Differences observed in factors associated with MII+ between states suggests that quality of counseling can be further improved and requires further investigation.
