<![CDATA[Addressing the unmet need for family planning remains a major challenge in global reproductive health. According to WHO data, approximately 164 million women out of a global total of 1.9 billion women of reproductive age face barriers regarding contraceptive access, resulting in unmet needs. Johan Pahlawan District has the highest concentration of couples of reproductive age(PUS) in West Aceh Regency and is also a hotspot for high rates of unmet family planning needs. This study aimed to empirically examine the associations between knowledge of family planning, exposure to family planning information, and concerns regarding contraceptive side effects, and the dynamics of unmet family planning needs among women of reproductive age (WUS) in Johan Pahlawan District, West Aceh. This quantitative study employed a cross-sectional design; from a population base of 1,259 couples of reproductive age, a representative sample of 93 respondents was selected using multistage sampling. Primary data were collected via structured questionnaires and analyzed using the Chi-Square test. The findings demonstrate that the level of family planning knowledge (p-value = 0.032) and exposure to family planning information (p-value = 0.016) are significantly associated with unmet family planning need status. However, the indicator regarding anxiety about contraceptive side effects yielded non-significant results (p-value = 0.470). Thus, it is concluded that the determinants of unmet family planning needs in this population are driven by factors related to knowledge and the dissemination of health information, rather than by fear of the medical side effects of the contraceptives themselves.]]>
