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
. 2022 Aug 9;80(1):184.
doi: 10.1186/s13690-022-00938-8.

Individual and community-level factors of abortion in East Africa: a multilevel analysis

Tesfa Sewunet Aalmneh  1 , Adugnaw Zeleke Alem  1 , Gebrekidan Ewnetu Tarekegn  1 , Tilahun Kassew  2 , Bikis Liyew  3 , Bewuketu Terefe  4
Affiliations

Individual and community-level factors of abortion in East Africa: a multilevel analysis

Tesfa Sewunet Aalmneh et al. Arch Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Abortion is one of the top five causes of maternal mortality in low and middle-income countries. It is associated with a complication related to pregnancy and childbirth. Despite this, there was limited evidence on the prevalence and associated factors of abortion in East African countries. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the prevalence and associated factors of abortion among reproductive-aged women in East African countries.

Methods: The Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) data of 12 East African countries was used. A total weighted sample of 431,518 reproductive-age women was included in the analysis. Due to the hierarchical nature of the DHS data, a multilevel binary logistic regression model was applied. Both crude and Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) with 95% Confidence Interval (CI) was calculated for potential associated factors of abortion in East Africa. In the final model, variables with a p value < 0.05 were declared as statistically significant factors of abortion.

Results: Around 5.96% (95%CI: 4.69, 7.22) of reproductive-aged women in East Africa had a history of abortion. Alcohol use, tobacco or cigarette smoking, being single, poorer wealth index, currently working, traditional family planning methods, and media exposure were associated with a higher risk of abortion. However, higher parity, having optimum birth intervals, and modern contraceptive uses were associated with lower odds of abortion.

Conclusions: The prevalence of abortion among reproductive-aged women in East Africa was high. Abortion was affected by various socio-economic and obstetrical factors. Therefore, it is better to consider the high-risk groups during the intervention to prevent the burdens associated with abortion.

Keywords: Abortion; Demographic and Health Survey; East Africa; Maternal mortality; Multilevel analysis; Reproductive age women.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The prevalence of abortion in East African Countries
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Organization WH. World health statistics 2015. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2015. https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/170250/9789240694439_en....
    1. Organization WH . Strategies towards ending preventable maternal mortality (EPMM) 2015.
    1. Diedrich J, Steinauer J. Complications of surgical abortion. Clin Obstet Gynecol. 2009;52(2):205–212. doi: 10.1097/GRF.0b013e3181a2b756. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Grimes DA, Benson J, Singh S, Romero M, Ganatra B, Okonofua FE, et al. Unsafe abortion: the preventable pandemic. The lancet. 2006;368(9550):1908–1919. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(06)69481-6. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Fusco CLB. Unsafe abortion: a serious public health issue in a poverty stricken population. Reprodução & Climatério. 2013;28(1):2–9. doi: 10.1016/j.recli.2013.04.001. - DOI

LinkOut - more resources