The relationship of socio-demographic factors,fertility behavior and child’s perceived value with fertility intention of women in a region in the east of Iran

Background: fertility intention is one of the strongest predictors of couple’s fertility behavior that is affected by many variables. this study aimed to identify the relationship of socio-demographic factors,fertility behavior,and child’s perceived value with fertility intention of women in a region in the east iran methods: in this descriptive cross-sectional study,241 married women aged between 15 and 49 years of torbat heydariyeh city in 2015,were studied. the data collection scales included a demographic information form,fertility information questionnaire and trommsdorff’s child value questionnaire. data were analyzed using spss 16 by chi-square,kruskal–wallis,t-independent test and logistic regression. the significance level of p<0.05 was considered. results: most of the subjects (52.7%) had no fertility intention. independent-samples test and kruskal–wallis revealed significant differences in fertility intention with the subject’s age,mate’s age,number of children and costs of children (p=0.001). in addition,in subjects with children of both sexes,intention for childbearing was significantly lower when compared to subjects with only one sex in children (p=0.001). however,when the logistic regression test was performed,being housewife,number of children,having children of both sexes,benefit and costs of children showed statistical significance (p<0.05). conclusion: the results indicate that being housewife,number of current children,having children of both sexes,and perceived childbearing costs are important in determining the odds that a woman will intend to have a child. these findings can contribute to the realization of new population programs towards higher fertility rate in the country. © 2017,nauka. all rights reserved.