Knowledge and attitude on “Standard Days Method” of family planning among female postgraduate students: A cross-sectional study

Background: “Standard Days Method” is a fertility awareness method of family planning that helps to identify the fertile days in a menstrual cycle during which a woman is likely to get pregnant. It is calculated to be 12 days ranging from day 8 through 19 in a menstrual cycle of 26 to 32 days. This study aimed to assess the knowledge and attitude on the “Standard Days Method” of family planning, correlation between knowledge and attitude, and the association between knowledge and attitude with the selected demographic variables. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional survey was carried out among 540 female students aged 21 to 25 years from selected postgraduate colleges of selected district in Karnataka State of South India. Self-administered questionnaires were used to collect the data. Results: Majority (94%) of the students surveyed had poor knowledge regarding “Standard Days Method” but majority (54.2%) of them favored the “Standard Days Method”. There was significant weak positive correlation between knowledge and attitude scores (r = 0.292, p < 0.001). The knowledge scores and attitude score had significant association with certain demographic variables. Conclusion: Awareness program on fertility awareness-based methods of family planning is essential to provide cogent information to young adults, thus empowering them to take wise decisions on planned parenthood.