Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Sep 9;16(18):3305.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph16183305.

Changes in the Prevalence of Induced Abortion in the Floating Population in Major Cities of China 2007-2014

Xing Wang  1 , Junqing Wu  2 , Yuyan Li  3 , Ying Zhou  4 , Yiran Li  5 , Rui Zhao  6 , Qi Tong  7 , Mingzhong Luo  8
Affiliations

Changes in the Prevalence of Induced Abortion in the Floating Population in Major Cities of China 2007-2014

Xing Wang et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Objective: Our aim was to assess the changes in induced abortion in different migrant groups in China between 2007 and 2014 and the contraceptive methods used prior to induced abortion.

Methods: The studies of two population-based cross sections were conducted in urban China, involving 9146 sexually active migrant women. Within the selected sociodemographic subgroups, the changes in the percentage of women who had induced abortions, the proportion of pregnancies ending in induced abortions, the causes of induced abortions, and the methods of contraception were identified. A chi-squared test was used to calculate the differences in induced abortion in the subgroups.

Results: Between 2007 and 2014, in the study groups from the major cities of China, the percentage of sexually active migrant women who had induced abortions increased 10.1%, from 21.8% to 24.0%. The proportion of pregnancies ending in induced abortions increased 23.7%, from 21.5% to 26.6%. Both of the aforementioned statistics increased significantly within most of the selected sociodemographic subgroups, especially in the 18-19 and 45-49 age groups. Over 50% of pregnancies were aborted in the cohabiting group, although this figure declined by 12.3% over the course of the seven-year study period. Contraceptive failure was the primary cause of induced abortion, although its contribution to induced abortion declined from 51.3% to 42.4%. The proportion of women not using contraception prior to induced abortion increased from 30.9% to 41.2%.

Conclusion: The prevalence of induced abortion is high and continues to increase among sexually active migrant women in China. An increasing trend is forecasted over the next few decades. Special attention should be paid to the younger cohort of migrant women, especially 18-19-year-olds, and unmarried cohabitants, who are increasingly seeking induced abortions.

Keywords: abortion trends; contraception; induced abortion; migrants.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The sponsors had no role in the design, execution, or interpretation of this study or the writing of this paper.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Prevalence of induced abortion among sexually active migrant women by origin of the floating population in China, 2007. The lines represent population migration from the top five sources (provinces) for each survey site.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Prevalence of induced abortion among sexually active migrant women by origin of the floating population in China, 2014. The lines represent population migration from the top five sources (provinces) for each survey site.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Li J., Temmerman M., Chen Q., Xu J., Hu L., Zhang W.H. A review of contraceptive practices among married and unmarried women in China from 1982 to 2010. Eur. J. Contracept. Reprod. Health Care. 2013;18:148–158. doi: 10.3109/13625187.2013.776673. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ganatra B., Gerdts C., Rossier C., Johnson B.J., Tuncalp O., Assifi A., Sedgh G., Singh S., Bankole A., Popinchalk A., et al. Global, regional, and subregional classification of abortions by safety, 2010–2014: Estimates from a Bayesian hierarchical model. Lancet. 2017;390:2372–2381. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(17)31794-4. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Jokela S., Lilja E., Kinnunen T.I., Gissler M., Castaneda A.E., Koponen P. Births and induced abortions among women of Russian, Somali and Kurdish origin, and the general population in Finland—Comparison of self-reported and register data. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2018;18:296. doi: 10.1186/s12884-018-1931-x. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Zeng J., Zou G., Song X., Ling L. Contraceptive practices and induced abortions status among internal migrant women in Guangzhou, China: A cross-sectional study. BMC Public Health. 2015;15:552. doi: 10.1186/s12889-015-1903-2. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Department of Services and Management of Migrant Population NHFPC of the PRC . Report China’s Migrant Population Development 2015. China Population Publishing House; Beijing, China: 2015.

Publication types