The Filipinos' perception on the effectiveness of treatment of non-communicable disease and its influence on their fertility preference

• Main Author: Macarayan, Erlyn Rachelle King
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2012
• Subjects: Fertility, Human; Chronic diseases; Medicine and Health Sciences; Public Health
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_masteral/4100; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=10938&context=etd_masteral
• Institution: De La Salle University

The study determined the fertility preferences of married men and women ages 20 to 49 years old with non communicable diseases (NCDs) undergoing medical treatments and the influence of perception on the effectiveness of treatment (PET) on fertility preferences (FP). Moreover, it looked into the factors associated with PET and FP. The study interviewed sixty (60) respondents equally divided by type of residence and gender. The 20 to 49 age group was used since the World Health Organization found an increasing premature mortality or under-60-year old mortality from NCDs and were also considered to be at the prime of their reproductive ages. An increasing number of NCD cases among this age group can lead to changes in their perception on effectiveness of treatments and their fertility preferences. All respondents were referred by healthcare professionals and were undergoing medical treatments at the time of interview. A screening form was included to limit the respondents to the specific inclusion criteria. Using quantitative study through surveys, the study first looked into the socioeconomic characteristics, the physical health characteristics, and the social network of the respondents. Socioeconomic characteristics include type of residence, age, gender, highest educational attainment, and income. Physical health characteristics include family history of the disease, severity of health condition, and onset of the disease. Lastly, social network include number of living children and living arrangement. The study found that such characteristics do not influence the PET of persons with NCDs. This is in contrast to previous findings that these characteristics highly influence health outcomes especially perceptions on the effectiveness of treatments. Thus, a higher vulnerability to NCD as manifested by poorer socioeconomic status, higher physical vulnerability to NCD, and smaller social network will not necessarily lead to a lower PET. Despite their current medical conditions, the respondents fertility preferences based on the six indicators used by the Philippine National Demographic and Health Survey were also very similar to findings on the general population. In addition, PET, whether low or high, did not have a statistically significant influence on the FP of people with NCDs.