EMOTIONAL DISTRESS FOLLOWING INDUCED-ABORTION - A STUDY OF ITS INCIDENCE AND DETERMINANTS AMONG ABORTEES IN MALMO, SWEDEN

Objective: To study incidence and determinants of emotional distress f ollowing induced abortion. Setting: Department of Obstetrics and Gynec ology, Lund University, University Hospital Malmo, Sweden. Subjects: A series of 854 participants at 12-month postabortion follow-up, repres enting 66.5% of the 1285 women undergoing induced abortion at Malmo, 1 989. Methods: Analysis of data elicited at a semistructured interview 1 year after induced abortion, risk factors for emotional distress bei ng determined in a ''case'' subgroup (n = 139) of women satisfying all the inclusion criteria (i.e., postabortion emotional distress, doubts about abortion decision, would not consider abortion again), as compa red with a control group (n = 114) satisfying none of the inclusion cr iteria. The study design is a retrospective study. Results: In the sub group with emotional distress (duration ranging from 1 month to still present at 12-month follow-up), the following risk factors were identi fied: living alone, poor emotional support from family and friends, ad verse postabortion change in relations with partner, underlying ambiva lence or adverse attitude to abortion, and being actively religious. C onclusions: Thus, 50-60% of women undergoing induced abortion experien ced some measure of emotional distress, classified as severe in 30% of cases. The risk factors identified suggest that it may be possible to ameliorate or even prevent such distress. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science I reland Ltd.