Background: Despite recent improvements in the use of contraceptives amongst married women in Ethiopia, the utilization rates are still far below the national figures in the emerging regions of the country. Therefore, there is a need to assess the level of knowledge and attitudes towards family planning, and associated factors among reproductive-age women in the four emerging regions of Ethiopia.

Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 2891 reproductive-age women from 01 to 30 June 2017. The data were collected by open data equipped tablets with kit software using structured questionnaires. The collected data were exported to STATA version 14 for analysis. Knowledge and attitude were assessed using tools containing 12 and 9 questions, respectively. Mean scores were used as cut-off points. Internal consistency of the tool was checked using the Cronbach alpha coefficient, and it was 0.87 for knowledge and 0.78 for attitude questions. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were done, and statistical significance was declared at a p-value ≤ 0.05.

Results: Less than half, 1254 (43.4%), of the participants had good knowledge and 1511 (52.3%) had a favorable attitude towards FP. Positive predictors of good knowledge of family planning were: being from the Benishangul-Gumuz region, urban residence, older age, high level of education, being Christian and merchant, high household monthly income, and listening/ watching radio/TV. On the other hand, high family size and ideal desired children were negative predictors. For a favorable attitude, the positive predictors include older age, high level of partner education, listening/watching radio/TV, being from the BG region, and having a good knowledge of FP. Desiring a high number of ideal children and being a student by occupation were negatively associated with a favorable attitude.

Conclusion: The study revealed that a significant number of women had poor knowledge and attitude towards FP. Multiple socio-demographic factors contributed to the knowledge and attitude of FP. Therefore, the health sectors of the regions and other stakeholders should strengthen the health extension program to disseminate messages related to FP to improve the knowledge and attitude of women.

• Knowledge
• attitude
• emerging regions
• Ethiopia
• family planning
• reproductive-age women
• utilization
• community-based

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This dataset includes information on sociodemographic characteristics such as region, age, residence, educational status, partners' education status, Family monthly income, employment status, marital status, religion, family size, and access to communication media.

Related to reproductive history such as Ideal number of children, Ever had sexual intercourse, age at first sex, Last pregnancy wanted, Total number of pregnancies, Ever face abortion, Ever face stillbirth, last pregnancy status, number of pregnancies so far, number of live children, and number of women’s wants to have additional children.

Knowledge of contraceptive methods related variables include the knowledge of at least one contraceptive method, knowing male condom, knowing pill, know injectable, know IUD, know implants, know tubal ligation, know vasectomy, female condom, know LAM, know the rhythm, know withdrawal, know emergency contraceptive, good overall knowledge (composite) and source of contraceptive information, and attitude of contraceptive methods related variables also as follow  Discussion with one’s partner on FP, discussion with family/relative, discussion with friends, contraception has a benefit for women, large family size affects economic condition negatively, large family size earns respect by the husband, large family size earns the respect of the community, Large family size earns respect by a religious leader, Large family size affects maternal and child health, and Overall attitude (composite).

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