Estimating Abortion Incidence among Adolescents and Differences in Postabortion Care by Age: A Cross-Sectional Study of Postabortion Care Patients in Uganda

ConclusionsThe high abortion rate among sexually active adolescents highlights the critical need to improve adolescent family planning in Uganda. Interventions to prevent unintended pregnancy and to reduce unsafe abortion may be particularly important for unmarried adolescents. Rather than treating adolescents as a homogenous group, we need to understand how marriage and other social factors shape reproductive health outcomes. ImplicationsThis paper provides the first estimate of the adolescent abortion rate in Uganda. Studies of adolescent abortion and reproductive health must account for sexual activity and marital status. Further, interventions to address unintended pregnancy and unsafe abortion among unmarried women of all ages in Africa should be a priority.
Source: The Guttmacher Institute - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Source Type: news