Premium
Abortion among rural women in north Ethiopia
Author(s) -
Getahun H,
Berhane Y
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
international journal of gynecology and obstetrics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.895
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1879-3479
pISSN - 0020-7292
DOI - 10.1016/s0020-7292(00)00279-4
Subject(s) - medicine , citation , library science , abortion , health department , family medicine , public health , nursing , pregnancy , genetics , computer science , biology
This study describes the magnitude of abortion in the rural district of South Gonder in north Ethiopia. A total of 1158 women of reproductive age (15-49 years) and who were currently married participated in the study. Lifetime history of abortion was reported by 241 of the women. Of the reported abortions the majority (91.4%) was spontaneous. Moreover induced abortion was mainly related to avoidance of pregnancy and poverty. Self-introduction of hard material into the vagina and chloroquine over-dosage were the main methods used for inducing abortion. A history of sexually transmitted disease (P < 0.01) and more than one lifetime marriage (P < 0.01) were associated with an increased risk of abortion. The study indicates that with the rapid growth of population and a decline in agricultural land size per capita in Ethiopia the rate of induced abortion in rural communities may have a remarkable increase in the near future.