Intention to use and its predictors towards preconception care utilization among reproductive age women in Mizan-Aman town, Bench-Sheko Zone, southwest Ethiopia, 2020: Based on Theory of planned behaviour

Background: World health organization recommended the universal package of preconception care . The government of Ethiopia gives the emphasis to maternal and child health but the progress of its improvement is too slow. Most studies in Ethiopia were on maternal health during pregnancy and after deliver but none of the study on women’s intention to use preconception care based on theory of planned behavior, hence this study aimed to determine behavioral intention and its predictors towards preconception care utilization among reproductive age women in Southwest, Ethiopia. Methods: : A community based cross sectional study was conducted among 419 reproductive age women at Mizan-Aman town Southwest Ethiopia. All assumptions of theory of planned behavior (TPB) were considered to measure intention, attitude, perceived social pressure and perceived ability to control circumstances against preconception care utilization. A systematic random sampling was used to select study participants. Data were collected by interviewer administered structured questionnaire through face to face interview. The collected data were entered Epi-data version 3.1 then exported to SPSS version 25 for further analysis. Multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to identify independent predictors of intention to use preconception care. P-value less than 5% was considered to indicate significant association. Results: : A total of 419 women were interviewed with response rate of 98.13%. The mean age of respondents was 34.21 (±6.21) years. Nearly twenty (19.8%) of the respondents were used preconception care previously. The attitude (β =0.320, p=0.0418), subjective norm (β =0.344, p<0.001), perceived behavioral control (β =0.512, p<0.001), indirect subjective norm (β =-0.108, p=0.002) and age of respondents (β =0.046, p=0.020) were the independent predictors of intension to use preconception care. Conclusion: The utilization of preconception care is low in this study. Overall, the intention to use preconception care is the implication of attitude, perceived social pressure and perceived behavioral control confirming the hypothesis of the study. Age is the only socio-demographic variables associated to intention. Health behavior change interventions should focus on empowering women that could enable them to evaluate their control beliefs and develop ability beside social norms and circumstances that compete with the use of preconception care services.