Filipino women’s exposure to family planning messages in the tri-media and their contraceptive use

Mass media has numerous functions in the society and the most prominent of these is information dissemination that can lead to changes in behavior, knowledge and practices of individuals towards certain matters such as family planning. In the context of the increasing prevalence of contraceptive use in the Philippines over the last 40 years (NDHS 2008), this paper hopes to provide inputs on the relationship between exposure to family planning (FP) messages in the tri-media (i.e. print, radio, and television) and use of contraceptives by Filipino women 15-49 years old. The data forms part of the 2008 Philippines National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS). Bivariate and multivariate analyses were employed and Chi-square test of association was used to examine relationships between the variables. Results show that among the tri-media, television is most popular source of FP messages among Filipino women. A positive relationship exists between women’s exposure to FP messages in any of the tri-media and contraceptive use most especially on modern contraceptive methods. Albeit weak, women’s contraceptive use and exposure to FP messages in television and radio were significantly associated. Education was found to affects the relationship between exposure to FP messages in tri-media and contraceptive use.