MEASURING THE EXTENT OF ABORTION UNDERREPORTING IN THE 1995 NATIONAL SURVEY OF FAMILY GROWTH

Context: Induced abortions are often severely underreported in nationa l surveys, hampering the estimation and analysis of unintended pregnan cies. To improve the level of abortion reporting, the 1995 National Su rvey of Family Growth (NSFG) incorporated new interview and self-repor t procedures, as well as a monetary incentive to respondents. Methods: The weighted numbers of abortions reported in the main interview of t he 1995 NSFG (Cycle 5), in the self-report and in the two procedures c ombined are compared with abortion estimates from The Alan Guttmacher institute. The Cycle 5 estimates are also compared with estimates from previous cycles of the NSFG. Results: The self-report produces better reporting than the main interview, but combining data from the two pr ocedures yields the highest count of abortions For the period 1991-199 4, the level of reporting is 45% in the main interview 52% in the self -report and 59% when the two methods are combined. The level of aborti on reporting in the combined data ranges from 40% for women with an in come less than the federal poverty level to more than 75% among women who were older than 35, those who were married at the time of their ab ortion and those with an income above 200% of the poverty level. The c ompleteness of abortion reporting in the main interview of Cycle 5 tho ugh indicating a remarkable improvement over reporting in Cycle 4, is comparable to the levels in Cycles 2 and 3. Conclusions: The usefulnes s of the NSFG remains extremely limited for analyses involving uninten ded pregnancy and abortion.