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Educational inequalities in repeat abortion: a longitudinal register study in Finland 1975-2010

Educational inequalities in repeat abortion: a longitudinal register study in Finland 1975-2010
Educational inequalities in repeat abortion: a longitudinal register study in Finland 1975-2010
Summary. The proportion of repeat abortions among all abortions has increased over the last decades in Finland. Few studies have examined how education is associated with the likelihood of repeat abortion and whether the association has changed over time using reliable longitudinal data, although it may help create interventions aimed at avoiding repeat unintended pregnancy and abortion. This study analyses a unique set of register data of three birth cohorts followed from age 20 to 45, including about 22,000 cases of repeat abortion, and analysed using discrete-time event-history models. Low education was associated with a higher likelihood of repeat abortion. Women with low education had abortions sooner after the preceding abortion, were more often single, younger and had larger families at the time of abortion than the highly educated. The educational differences were more significant for later than earlier cohorts. The results show a lack of appropriate contraceptive use possibly due to lack of knowledge or access to services. There is a need to improve access to family planning services and contraceptives should be provided for free. Register data overcome the common problems of underreporting of abortion and attrition ensuring the results are reliable, unique and of interest internationally.
0021-9320
820-832
Vaisanen, Heini
ee5b9497-7825-4fd8-8b7e-3d5d2b164766
Vaisanen, Heini
ee5b9497-7825-4fd8-8b7e-3d5d2b164766

Vaisanen, Heini (2016) Educational inequalities in repeat abortion: a longitudinal register study in Finland 1975-2010. Journal of Biosocial Science, 48 (6), 820-832. (doi:10.1017/S002193201600016X).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Summary. The proportion of repeat abortions among all abortions has increased over the last decades in Finland. Few studies have examined how education is associated with the likelihood of repeat abortion and whether the association has changed over time using reliable longitudinal data, although it may help create interventions aimed at avoiding repeat unintended pregnancy and abortion. This study analyses a unique set of register data of three birth cohorts followed from age 20 to 45, including about 22,000 cases of repeat abortion, and analysed using discrete-time event-history models. Low education was associated with a higher likelihood of repeat abortion. Women with low education had abortions sooner after the preceding abortion, were more often single, younger and had larger families at the time of abortion than the highly educated. The educational differences were more significant for later than earlier cohorts. The results show a lack of appropriate contraceptive use possibly due to lack of knowledge or access to services. There is a need to improve access to family planning services and contraceptives should be provided for free. Register data overcome the common problems of underreporting of abortion and attrition ensuring the results are reliable, unique and of interest internationally.

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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 29 February 2016
e-pub ahead of print date: 29 April 2016
Published date: November 2016
Organisations: Social Statistics & Demography

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 390676
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/390676
ISSN: 0021-9320
PURE UUID: 760e0199-093a-4580-a0be-1153ca932bad
ORCID for Heini Vaisanen: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-5494-0415

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 06 Apr 2016 11:27
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:53

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