Number of eligible couples in India (Per thousand population) is?

HPSSSB Staff Nurse - 2016

Community Health Nursing

Easy

Appeared in: HPSSSB Staff Nurse - 2016

Explanation

An 'eligible couple' is a currently married couple where the wife is in the reproductive age group, typically defined as 15-49 years.
For the purpose of health and family welfare program planning in India, it is estimated that there are 150 to 180 eligible couples for every 1000 people in the population.
This figure corresponds to approximately 15-18% of the total population, which is a standard benchmark for calculating service needs.

Option B: This range is too high. It would imply that 25-28% of the total population consists of married women in the reproductive age group, which overestimates the actual demographic structure of India.
Option C: This range is significantly high and demographically improbable. It suggests that nearly a third of the population are eligible couples, which is incorrect.
Option D: This range is too low. It would lead to a significant underestimation of the number of couples requiring family planning, contraception, and reproductive health services, resulting in inadequate resource allocation.

Clinical Relevance

Nursing practice connection: This is primarily an exam-oriented knowledge point with limited direct bedside application, so retain Demographic norms for community health planning in India as background academic context rather than a clinical decision trigger.
Nurses and community health officers use this estimate to calculate the target population for family planning, antenatal care, and immunization services.
It helps in forecasting the demand for contraceptives, planning home visits by ANMs/ASHAs, and setting realistic targets for the Couple Protection Rate (CPR).
What if? If a nurse is assigned to a newly developed industrial township with a young migrant workforce, the proportion of eligible couples might be higher than 180 per 1000. The nurse would need to anticipate a greater demand for family planning and pediatric services compared to an area with an older population.

How to Approach the Question

First, identify the core concept of the question, which is a specific demographic indicator: 'eligible couples' in India.
Recall the definition of an 'eligible couple' in the context of Indian public health: a married couple with the wife in the reproductive age group (15-49 years).
Access your knowledge of community health nursing norms. Remember that this group constitutes a specific fraction of the total population, used for planning.
Recall the standard estimate, which is that eligible couples make up about 15% to 18% of the population.
Convert this percentage into a rate per 1000 population: 15% of 1000 is 150, and 18% of 1000 is 180.
Select the option that matches this calculated range, which is 150-180.

Concept Tested & Keywords

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E6 Parks TextBook of Preventive & Social Medicine part 1 — Subpart C (pp 404-604 of 604) p. 186-188