Factors associated with induced abortion at selected hospitals in the Volta Region, Ghana

Figures & data

Table 1 Sociodemographic characteristics of cases and controls of induced abortion in the Volta Region

Characteristic	Frequency (%)
	Cases (n=76)	Controls (n=304)
Age, years
<20	23 (30.3)	54 (17.8)
20–29	46 (60.5)	214 (70.3)
30+	7 (9.2)	36 (11.9)
Marital status
Single*	58 (76.3)	97 (31.1)
Married	18 (23.7)	207 (68.1)
Ethnicity
Ewe	59 (77.6)	226 (74.3)
Others	17 (22.4)	78 (26.7)
Religion
Christian	68 (89.5)	240 (78.9)
Non-Christian	8 (10.5)	64 (21.1)
Educational level
No formal education	6 (7.9)	47 (15.5)
Primary education	8 (10.5)	59 (19.4)
JSS/middle school education	37 (48.7)	112 (36.8)
Secondary and above	25 (32.9)	86 (28.3)
Occupation
Unemployed	46 (60.5)	96 (31.6)
Employed	30 (39.5)	208 (68.4)
Residence
Urban	65 (85.5)	236 (77.6)
Rural	11 (14.5)	68 (22.4)

Note:

* Singles include never married and divorced women.

Abbreviation: JSS, junior high school.

Table 2 Potential risk factors in cases and controls for seeking induced abortion in the Volta Region

Characteristic	Frequency (%)		Pearson chi-square P-value
	Cases (n=76)	Controls (n=304)
Age, years
<20	23 (30.3)	54 (17.8)	0.057
20–29	46 (60.5)	214 (70.3)
30+	7 (9.2)	36 (11.9)
Marital status
Single	58 (76.3)	97 (31.1)	<0.0001
Married	18 (23.7)	207 (68.1)
Ethnicity
Ewe	59 (77.6)	226 (74.3)	0.449
Other	17 (22.4)	78 (26.7)
Religion
Christian	68 (89.5)	240 (78.9)	0.040
Other	8 (10.5)	64 (21.1)
Employment status
Employed	30 (39.5)	208 (68.4)	<0.0001
Unemployed	46 (60.5)	96 (31.6)
Educational level
No formal education	6 (7.9)	47 (15.5)	0.050
Primary	8 (10.5)	59 (19.4)
JSS/middle school	37 (48.7)	112 (36.8)
Senior secondary or above	25 (32.9)	86 (28.3)
Area of residence
Urban	65 (85.5)	236 (77.6)	0.130
Rural	11 (14.5)	68 (22.4)
Number of pregnancies
One	30 (39.5)	154 (50.7)	<0.0001
Two	33 (43.4)	100 (32.9)
Three	13 (17.1)	50 (16.4)
Number of children living
None	65 (85.5)	260 (85.5)	1.000
One	7 (9.2)	28 (9.2)
Two or more	4 (5.3)	16 (5.3)
Contraceptive knowledge
Knows at least one FP method	67 (88.2)	290 (95.4)	0.006
Knows no FP method	9 (11.8)	14 (4.6)
Contraceptive use
FP prior to current pregnancy	42 (55.3)	164 (53.9)	0.840
Non FP prior to pregnancy	34 (44.7)	140 (46.1)
Awareness of complications
Aware of at least one complication	67 (88.2)	279 (91.8)	0.977
Unaware of complications	9 (11.8)	25 (8.2)

Abbreviations: JSS, junior high school; FP, family planning.

Table 3 Crude and adjusted odds ratios of risk factors for seeking induced abortion among women of reproductive age (15–45 years) in the Volta Region

Potential risk factors	Crude OR (95% CI)	Adjusted OR (95% CI)	P-value
Marital status
Single (ref)
Married	0.11 (0.07–0.22)	0.15 (0.08–0.26)	<0.0001
Number of pregnancies
First pregnancy (ref)
Second pregnancy	1.69 (0.97–2.95)	3.81 (1.94–7.49)	<0.0001
Third of more pregnancies	1.33 (0.65–2.76)	6.58 (2.58–16.79)
Occupation
Employed (ref)
Unemployed	0.30 (0.18–0.51)	0.35 (0.19–0.65)	<0.01
Contraceptive knowledge
Knows at least one FP method (ref)
Knows no FP method	0.58 (0.29–1.17)	4.64 (1.39–15.4)	0.01
Religion
Christian (ref)
Non-Christian	0.44 (0.20–0.97)	0.75 (0.3–1.62)	0.59
Educational level
No formal education (ref)
Primary education	1.06 (0.34–3.27)	1.09 (0.33–3.58)	0.59
JSS/middle school education	2.59 (1.02–6.54)	1.86 (0.67–5.15)
Secondary and above	2.28 (0.87–5.94)	2.19 (0.75–6.35)
Age, years
15–19 (ref)
20–24	0.58 (0.31–1.08)	1.21 (0.22–6.59)	0.83
25–29	0.40 (0.19–0.83)	1.18 (0.25–5.48)
≥30	0.46 (0.18–1.17)	1.16 (0.27–5.28)
Residence
Urban (ref)
Rural	0.59 (0.29–1.18)	0.52 (0.24–1.14)	0.10

Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval; FP, family planning; JSS, junior high school; OR, odds ratio; ref, reference.