Views of Turkish and Syrian Refugee Women Who are from Two Different Cultures on Tubal Ligation

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Although tubal ligation (TL) is a safe and effective method of permanent contraception, women may reject it for medical, social, economic, religious, and/or cultural reasons. The study was conducted to determine knowledge about and attitudes toward TL among Turkish and Syrian women. METHODS: Cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted with 420 women in the women's health unit of Hospital affiliated with the Ministry of Health in the southeastern Turkey. It was used an information form data collection. It was used descriptive statistics to compare the responses of Turkish and Syrian women. RESULTS: The investigation of the Turkish and Syrian women's perspectives of tubal ligation demonstrated that 32.1% of the Turkish women and 46.8% of the Syrian women considered it as a sin, 22.8% of the Turkish women and 37.6% of the Syrian women thought they might lose their authority in the family life, 22.8% of the Turkish women and 43.9% of the Syrian women thought that the intervention might have a negative impact on their sexual life, 20.9% of the Turkish women and 36.1% of the Syrian women thought that tubal ligation should be banned, 60.4% of the Turkish women, 45.9% of the Syrian women believed that tubal ligation was a reliable method and 34.4% of the Turkish women and 48.3% of the Syrian women thought that having a lot of children gained them strength and status in the society (p = <.05) DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Overall knowledge of women about TL was insufficient, and Syrian participants displayed more negative attitudes towards TL than Turkish participants. Our findings underscore the fact that cultural differences may have important effects on attitudes toward and acceptance of TL.

Keywords

• tubal ligation
• female sterilization
• family planning
• women
• immigrant