REPRODUCTION, RISK AND REALITY - FAMILY-PLANNING AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH IN NORTHERN VIETNAM

In collaboration with the National Committee for Population and Family Planning, a study was conducted in 1994 in two Vietnamese communes to provide community level information on women's reproductive health an d behaviours. A survey of 504 rural and 523 urban women collected five -year histories of reproduction, contraception, abortion and symptoms of Reproductive Tract Infections (RTI). This analysis focuses on the r elationships between women's individual characteristics, use of family planning and abortion, and reported RTI symptoms. The findings reveal that IUDs do not raise women's likelihood of experiencing RTI symptom s in either commune. A recent abortion, however, strongly increases wo men's likelihood of having RTI symptoms in the rural commune, while lo w socio-economic status is associated with RTI symptoms in the urban c ommune.