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Trends in hospitalization for abortion‐related complications in Brazil, 1992–2009: Why the decline in numbers and severity?
Author(s) -
Singh Susheela,
Monteiro Mario F.G.,
Levin Jacques
Publication year - 2012
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(12)60007-1
Subject(s) - medicine , abortion , demography , pregnancy , sociology , biology , genetics
Brazil offers a unique opportunity to analyze trends in abortion‐related morbidity over time with high‐quality data. National data on facility‐based treatment of abortion complications from 1992–2009 were analyzed. Large declines occurred in the number and rate of women treated for abortion complications: the national number of treated cases declined by 41% (from 282 000 in 1992 to 165000 in 2009), and the abortion treatment rate declined by 57% (from 7.1 to 3.1 per 1000 women) over the same period. The decline in this rate was more striking for more serious complications than for less serious ones (69% compared with 52%). Possible reasons for these overall declines include increasing use and greater availability of safer abortion methods, and greater ability to pay for such methods as well as a possible decline in incidence of unintended pregnancy and abortion through more widespread use of modern contraception.