Needs-based education in public health:does self-efficacy predict the effectiveness of contraceptive use in Iranian women?

Over 100 million women around the world are using oral contraceptives (OCs). Although when used perfectly, OCs have first-year pregnancy rates of less than 1% .Typical-use pregnancy rates for OCs are generally much higher. Attention has recently focused on users’ pill-taking behaviors, especially missed pills. The efficacy of OCs is associated with women's use-related behaviors, especially the consistency with which they take pills. Recent evidence suggests that use-related behaviors play an important role in the incidence of unintended pregnancy.
   In Iran, among married women, 18.4% use the pill, and 5.6% of the unintended fertilities had occurred among OC users.  The recent (IDHS) reported that only half (51.5%) of those take OCs, use them correctly. Despite the occurrence of considerable pill failure, few studies in Iran have attempted to examine the causes it.  Perhaps, if family planning programs and health care providers more attentively helped assessed women's needs, the actual effectiveness of OCs could improve substantially.
Self-efficacy is proposed to be a mediating variable between previous performance accomplishments and future performance. Measures of self-efficacy have been found to be good predictors of a variety of behaviors. However, despite the fact that it may be useful in understanding and predicting health behaviors, it is often poorly assessed.
This study explores the relative effects of self-efficacy on OC use among a sample of 352 Iranian married women aged 18 to 49.
 Descriptive statistics, Spearman correlations, and multiple regression analysis were used in the analyses. Correlation results indicate a significant inter-correlation between the general self-efficacy and family planning self-efficacy. Also results indicated that the two independent variables, when taken together, were more effective in predicting behavioral Intentions for effective use of OCs, with family planning self-efficacy making the strongest contribution. It is suggested that self-efficacy intervention techniques will benefit OC users in preventing unintended pregnancies.