Dataset Information

Women's knowledge of their state's abortion regulations. A national survey.

ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVES:States vary significantly in their regulation of abortion. Misinformation about abortion is pervasive and propagated by state-mandated scripts that contain abortion myths. We sought to investigate women's knowledge of abortion laws in their state. Our secondary objective was to describe women's ability to discern myths about abortion from facts about abortion. STUDY DESIGN:This was a cross-sectional study of English- and Spanish-speaking women aged 18-49 in the United States. We enrolled members of the GfK KnowledgePanel, a probability-based, nationally-representative online sample. Our primary outcome was the proportion of correct answers to 12 questions about laws regulating abortion in a respondent's state. We asked five questions about common abortion myths. We used descriptive statistics to characterize performance on these measures and bivariate and multivariate modeling to identify risk factors for poor knowledge of state abortion laws. RESULTS:Of 2223 women contacted, 1057 (48%) completed the survey. The mean proportion of correct answers to 12 law questions was 18% (95% CI 17-20%). For three of five assessed myths, women endorsed myths about abortion over facts. Those who believe abortion should be illegal (aOR 2.18, CI 1.40-3.37), and those living in states with neutral or hostile state policies toward abortion (neutral aOR 1.99, CI 1.34-2.97; hostile aOR 1.6, CI 1.07-2.36) were at increased odds of poor law knowledge. CONCLUSIONS:Women had low levels of knowledge about state abortion laws and commonly endorse abortion myths. Women's knowledge of their state's abortion laws was associated with personal views about abortion and their state policy environment. IMPLICATIONS:Supporters of reproductive rights can use these results to show policy makers that their constituents are unlikely to know about laws being passed that may profoundly affect them. These findings underscore the potential benefit in correcting widely-held, medically-inaccurate beliefs about abortion so opinions about laws can be based on fact.

SUBMITTER: Swartz JJ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7409738 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Women's knowledge of their state's abortion regulations. A national survey.

Swartz Jonas J JJ Rowe Carly C Morse Jessica E JE Bryant Amy G AG Stuart Gretchen S GS

Contraception 20200806 5

<h4>Objectives</h4>States vary significantly in their regulation of abortion. Misinformation about abortion is pervasive and propagated by state-mandated scripts that contain abortion myths. We sought to investigate women's knowledge of abortion laws in their state. Our secondary objective was to describe women's ability to discern myths about abortion from facts about abortion.<h4>Study design</h4>This was a cross-sectional study of English- and Spanish-speaking women aged 18-49 in the United S ...[more]

PMID: 32771370

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Project description:To examine whether a first abortion increases risk of mental health disorders compared with a first childbirth with and without considering prepregnancy mental health and adverse exposures, childhood economic status, miscarriage history, age at first abortion or childbirth, and race or ethnicity.A cohort study compared rates of mental disorders (anxiety, mood, impulse-control, substance use, eating disorders, and suicidal ideation) among 259 women postabortion and 677 women postchildbirth aged 18-42 years at the time of interview from The National Comorbidity Survey-Replication.The percentage of women with no, one, two, and three or more mental health disorders before their first abortion was 37.8%, 19.7%, 15.2%, and 27.3% and before their first childbirth was 57.9%, 19.6%, 9.2%, and 13.3%, respectively, indicating that women in the abortion group had more prior mental health disorders than women in the childbirth group (P<.001). Although in unadjusted Cox proportional hazard models, abortion compared with childbirth was associated with statistically significant higher hazards of postpregnancy mental health disorders, associations were reduced and became nonstatistically significant for five disorders after adjusting for the aforementioned factors. Hazard ratios and associated 95% confidence intervals dropped from 1.52 (1.08-2.15) to 1.12 (0.87-1.46) for anxiety disorders; from 1.56 (1.23-1.98) to 1.18 (0.88-1.56) for mood disorders; from 1.62 (1.02-2.57) to 1.10 (0.75-1.62) for impulse-control disorders; from 2.53 (1.09-5.86) to 1.82 (0.63-5.25) for eating disorders; and from 1.62 (1.09-2.40) to 1.25 (0.88-1.78) for suicidal ideation. Only the relationship between abortion and substance use disorders remained statistically significant, although the hazard ratio dropped from 3.05 (1.94-4.79) to 2.30 (1.35-3.92).After accounting for confounding factors, abortion was not a statistically significant predictor of subsequent anxiety, mood, impulse-control, and eating disorders or suicidal ideation. LEVEL OF EVEDIENCE: II.

Project description:Abortion is regulated in Mexico at the state level, and it is permitted under certain criteria in all 32 states, except in Mexico City where first-trimester abortion is decriminalized. Yet, more than a million abortions occur in Mexico each year. But most terminations occurring outside of Mexico City are clandestine and unsafe due to profound stigma against the procedure, lack of trained providers, lack of knowledge of where to find a safe abortion and poor knowledge of the laws. While this situation is moderated by the increasing use of misoprostol, a relatively safe method of abortion, the safety of the procedure cannot be assured in restrictive legal contexts. The purpose of this study is to explore women's experiences with induced abortion in three federal entities with different legal contexts, and whether abortion seeking behavior and experiences differ across these settings. The study was carried out in three states, representing three different degrees of restrictiveness of abortion legislation. Queretaro with the "most restrictive" law, Tabasco with a "moderately restrictive" law, and Mexico state with the "least restrictive" law. We hypothesize that women living in more restrictive states will resort to the use of more unsafe and risky methods and providers for their abortion than their counterparts in less restrictive states. Women who recently obtained abortions were selected through snowball sampling and qualitative data were collected from them using semi-structured indepth interviews. Data collection took place between mid-2014 and mid-2015, with a final sample size N = 60 (20 from each state). Various themes involved in the process of abortion seeking behavior were developed from the IDIs and examined here: women's knowledge of the abortion law in their state, reasons for having an abortion; the methods and providers used and women's positive and negative experiences with abortion methods and providers used. Our results indicate that abortion safety is not associated with the restrictiveness of abortion legislation. Findings show that there is a new pattern of abortion service provision in Mexico, with misoprostol, a relatively safe and easy to use method, playing an important role. Nevertheless, while access to misoprostol tends to increase the safety of abortion, the improvement is moderated by women and their informants (relatives, friends and partners) not having accurate information on how to safely self-induce an abortion with misoprostol. On the other hand, some women manage to have safe abortion in illegal setting by going to Mexico City or with the support of NGOs knowlegeable on abortion. Findings demonstrate the importance of decriminalization of abortion, but meanwhile, harm reduction strategies, including promotion of accurate information about self-use of misoprostol where abortion is legally restricted will result in safe abortion.

Project description:BackgroundA high percentage of dental caries (∼70%) was reported amongst 4- and 5-year-old Kuwaiti kindergarten children. Parents contact paediatricians several times during the child's early life. Paediatricians can play an important role in improving the oral health of their patients. The objective of the study is to evaluate the knowledge level and awareness of paediatricians and paediatric residents regarding children's oral health in Kuwait.MethodsA national cross-sectional survey was distributed to paediatricians and paediatric residents practicing in Kuwait. Data concerning demographic variables, knowledge on dental caries preventive measures, current anticipatory guidance, and experience with dental problems and oral care were collected using online and paper-based surveys.ResultsA total of 230 participants completed the survey, with a response rate of 50.1%. Most respondents (81%) had frequently noticed dental caries in children in their practice. Two-thirds of respondents felt confident in detecting dental caries. However, more than two-thirds were unfamiliar with preventive dental practices and the management of dental trauma. Only 16.5% of the respondents got a satisfactory knowledge score on the preventive measure questions, and nearly 51% had satisfactory knowledge on the recent anticipatory guidance questions. No significant correlations were found between gender or years of practice and knowledge scores. Respondents' confidence in detecting caries was significantly associated with the knowledge score of the anticipatory guidance (P = .003). Fewer than half of the respondents considered prescribing sugar-free syrup (47.4%) and counselled patients regarding the use of mouthguards during sports for schoolchildren (39%).ConclusionsThe majority of paediatricians have adequate knowledge of the current anticipatory guidance of oral health issues, but they have insufficient knowledge of oral preventative measures and dental trauma. Adequate education and training in oral health are highly recommended.

Project description:BackgroundThe 2005 International Health Regulations (IHR (2005)) require States Parties to establish National Focal Points (NFPs) responsible for notifying the World Health Organization (WHO) of potential events that might constitute public health emergencies of international concern (PHEICs), such as outbreaks of novel infectious diseases. Given the critical role of NFPs in the global surveillance and response system supported by the IHR, we sought to assess their experiences in carrying out their functions.MethodsIn collaboration with WHO officials, we administered a voluntary online survey to all 196 States Parties to the IHR (2005) in Africa, Asia, Europe, and South and North America, from October to November 2019. The survey was available in six languages via a secure internet-based system.ResultsIn total, 121 NFP representatives answered the 56-question survey; 105 in full, and an additional 16 in part, resulting in a response rate of 62% (121 responses to 196 invitations to participate). The majority of NFPs knew how to notify the WHO of a potential PHEIC, and believed they have the content expertise to carry out their functions. Respondents found training workshops organized by WHO Regional Offices helpful on how to report PHEICs. NFPs experienced challenges in four critical areas: 1) insufficient intersectoral collaboration within their countries, including limited access to, or a lack of cooperation from, key relevant ministries; 2) inadequate communications, such as deficient information technology systems in place to carry out their functions in a timely fashion; 3) lack of authority to report potential PHEICs; and 4) inadequacies in some resources made available by the WHO, including a key tool - the NFP Guide. Finally, many NFP representatives expressed concern about how WHO uses the information they receive from NFPs.ConclusionOur study, conducted just prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, illustrates key challenges experienced by NFPs that can affect States Parties and WHO performance when outbreaks occur. In order for NFPs to be able to rapidly and successfully communicate potential PHEICs such as COVID-19 in the future, continued measures need to be taken by both WHO and States Parties to ensure NFPs have the necessary authority, capacity, training, and resources to effectively carry out their functions as described in the IHR.

Project description:Abortion is legally restricted in most of Latin America where 95% of the 4.4 million abortions performed annually are unsafe. Medical abortion (MA) refers to the use of a drug or a combination of drugs to terminate pregnancy. Mifepristone followed by misoprostol is the most effective and recommended regime. In settings where mifepristone is not available, misoprostol alone is used.Medical abortion has radically changed abortion practices worldwide, and particularly in legally restricted contexts. In Latin America women have been using misoprostol for self-induced home abortions for over two decades.This article summarizes the findings of a literature review on women's experiences with medical abortion in Latin American countries where voluntary abortion is illegal.Women's personal experiences with medical abortion are diverse and vary according to context, age, reproductive history, social and educational level, knowledge about medical abortion, and the physical, emotional, and social circumstances linked to the pregnancy. But most importantly, experiences are determined by whether or not women have the chance to access: 1) a medically supervised abortion in a clandestine clinic or 2) complete and accurate information on medical abortion. Other key factors are access to economic resources and emotional support.Women value the safety and effectiveness of MA as well as the privacy that it allows and the possibility of having their partner, a friend or a person of their choice nearby during the process. Women perceive MA as less painful, easier, safer, more practical, less expensive, more natural and less traumatic than other abortion methods. The fact that it is self-induced and that it avoids surgery are also pointed out as advantages. Main disadvantages identified by women are that MA is painful and takes time to complete. Other negatively evaluated aspects have to do with side effects, prolonged bleeding, the possibility that it might not be effective, and the fact that some women eventually need to seek medical care at a hospital where they might be sanctioned for having an abortion and even reported to the police.

Dataset Information

Women's knowledge of their state's abortion regulations. A national survey.

Publications

Women's knowledge of their state's abortion regulations. A national survey.

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