Factors associated with pregnancy termination an Ukrainian women

Objectives. To study differences in social and demographic characteristics between women undergoing an induced abortion and antenatal care attendants in the Ukraine. Design. Hospital-based unmatched case control study. Methods. From a survey including 1,694 women of fertile age, who attended f ive women's clinics in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, we studied those who ca me for termination of pregnancy (n=919) and for antenatal care (n=478). The data were obtained through an anonymous self-questionnaire. From the 192-i tem questionnaire questions dealing with social and demographic characteris tics, previous pregnancy experience, and attitude towards abortion were ana lyzed. Multiple logistic regression was used to analyze the risk of pregnan cy termination. Results. Termination of pregnancy was associated with bring single (OR=11.8 ). Both previous:childbirth and previous induced abortion were other determ inants as well as being younger than 19 years old (OR=3.8), having a positi ve attitude towards abortion (OR=2.7), and sharing apartment with parents ( OR=1.9). A higher risk for an induced abortion was found among women with a history of previous induced abortion(s). Neither income nor educational le vel was identified as a risk factor for pregnancy termination. Conclusion. This study demonstrated major social and demographic difference s between women attending for abortion and antenatal care patients, and hig hlights some of the factors influencing the decision to terminate a pregnan cy.