The association and a potential pathway between gender-based violence and induced abortion in Thai Nguyen province, Vietnam

Figures & data

Fig. 1.  Conceptual model of a potential pathway between gender-based violence (GBV) and induced abortion.

Table 1. Prevalence of lifetime history of gender-based violence (GBV) and association between GBV and lifetime contraceptive use, unintended pregnancy, and induced abortion

		Lifetime history of contraceptive use and unintended pregnancy (n=1,260)				Lifetime history of induced abortion (n=1,254)
	Prevalence (n=1,281)	Contraceptive use (n=865, 68.66%)	Use of female contraceptive method (n=615, 48.77%)	Use of couple contraceptive method (n=251, 19.89%)	Unintended pregnancy (n=297, 23.57%)	Abortion (n=421, 33.57%)	Repeat abortion (n=144, 11.48%)
Lifetime history of GBV	Percent (95% CI)	Percent	Percent	Percent	Percent	Percent	Percent
Any GBV
No	70.95 (68.44–73.46)	65.70	44.39	20.98	21.05	30.54	9.07
Yes	29.05 (26.54–31.56)	77.57***	50.00***	17.14	29.56**	40.93***	17.31***
Physical GBV
No	83.02 (80.94–85.09)	67.32	46.24	20.77	21.88	31.41	9.69
Yes	16.98 (14.91–19.06)	78.02**	62.15***	15.25^+	31.60**	44.13***	20.19***
Sexual GBV
No	89.62 (87.93–91.30)	68.25	47.89	19.92	22.51	32.73	10.40
Yes	10.38 (8.69–12.07)	76.07^+	56.41^+	19.66	32.82**	40.46^+	20.61**
Emotional GBV
No	79.87 (77.66–82.09)	66.99	45.72	21.02	22.20	32.22	9.56
Yes	20.13 (17.91–22.34)	77.73**	61.97***	15.02*	29.08*	38.74*	18.97***

⁺ p<0.10, *p<0.05, **p<0.01, ***p<0.001.

Table 2. Demographic characteristics, contraceptive use, unintended pregnancy, and lifetime history of induced abortion among study participants

		Lifetime history of abortion (n=1,254)
	Prevalence (n=1,281)	Abortion (n=421, 33.57%)	Repeat abortion (n=144, 11.48%)
Explanatory variables	Percent (95% CI)	Percent	Percent
Age of respondent (years)
18–24	9.40 (7.79–11.00)	10.09	0.00
25–34	34.38 (31.77–36.70)	23.00	5.16
35–49	56.22 (53.50–58.95)	43.50***	16.92***
Ethnicity
Kinh	67.37 (64.80–69.94)	34.75	13.00
Other (ethnic minority)	32.63 (30.06–35.20)	31.13	8.33*
Education
Primary school	10.62 (8.93–12.31)	28.68	8.82
Secondary school	50.27 (47.53–53.01)	34.34	11.39
High school	23.50 (21.17–25.82)	30.17	11.53
College or higher	15.61 (13.62–17.60)	39.79^+	13.61
Occupation
Farmer	64.77 (62.15–67.37)	30.14***	10.09*
Other	35.23 (32.61–37.85)	39.91	14.06
Area of residence
Rural	64.64 (62.02–67.26)	29.88***	8.52***
Urban	35.36 (32.74–37. 99)	40.32	16.89
Household SES
Lowest	20.02 (17.83–22.23)	25.70	7.23
Low	20.03 (17.83–22.23)	28.97	7.94
Middle	19.95 (17.76–22.15)	33.47	10.76
Higher	20.03 (17.83–22.23)	37.55	13.83
Highest	19.95 (17.76–22.15)	42.28***	17.89***
Number of living children (range: 0–5)
≤1	34.35 (31.74–36.95)	20.58	4.60
2	52.30 (49.56–55.04)	38.36	14.48
≥3	13.35 (11.48–15.21)	46.20***	16.37***
Age at first intercourse (years)
14–19	27.97 (25.50–30.43)	34.76	11.11
20–24	52.63 (49.89–55.38)	35.26	12.61
25–45	19.40 (17.23–21.58)	26.36*	8.79
Ever used contraception
No	31.34 (28.64–34.04)	8.20	1.64
Yes	68.66 (65.96–71.36)	35.49***	12.08*
Ever used female contraceptive methods
No	51.23 (48.32–54.14)	23.17	5.88
Yes	48.77 (45.89–51.68)	44.85***	17.18***
Ever used couple contraceptive methods
No	80.11 (77.78–82.43)	34.64	12.78
Yes	19.89 (17.57–22.22)	31.08	6.31**
Ever had unintended pregnancy
No	76.43 (74.07–78.80)	32.69	11.32
Yes	23.57 (21.20–25.93)	50.82**	14.75

⁺ p<0.10, *p<0.05, **p<0.01, ***p<0.001.

Table 3. Multivariate logistic regression models for the relationship between any kind of gender-based violence (GBV) and induced abortion

	Ever had abortion (n=1,118)	Ever had repeat abortion (n=1,118)
Explanatory variables	OR (95% CI)	OR (95% CI)
Ever experienced any GBV
No^r	1.00	1.00
Yes	1.61** (1.20–2.16)	2.22*** (1.48–3.32)
Ever used contraception
No^r	1.00	1.00
Yes	4.10** (1.56–10.77)	4.81 (0.64–36.22)
Ever had unintended pregnancy
No^r	1.00	1.00
Yes	2.69** (1.44–5.01)	1.82 (0.74–4.43)
Age of respondent (years)
18–24^r	1.00	1.00
25–34	3.07* (1.31–7.20)
35–49	7.49*** (3.11–18.06)	3.39*** (1.91–6.02)
Ethnicity
Kinh	0.76^+ (0.56–1.04)	1.01 (0.62–1.64)
Other^r	1.00	1.00
Education
Primary school^r	1.00	1.00
Secondary school	1.17 (0.72–1.89)	1.16 (0.53–2.53)
High school	0.83 (0.46–1.50)	0.95 (0.38–2.38)
College or higher	1.19 (0.60–2.34)	1.12 (0.40–3.11)
Occupation
Farmer	0.61* (0.39–0.93)	0.95 (0.52–1.74)
Other^r	1.00	1.00
Household SES
Lowest^r	1.00	1.00
Lower	1.01 (0.64–1.61)	0.87 (0.40–1.87)
Middle	1.42 (0.88–2.28)	1.45 (0.69–3.04)
Higher	1.46 (0.87–2.45)	1.94^+ (0.88–4.23)
Highest	1.55 (0.86–2.81)	2.77* (1.17–6.58)
Number of living children
≤1^r	1.00	1.00
2	1.39 (0.94–2.05)	1.83^+ (0.95–3.53)
≥3	1.90* (1.11–3.25)	2.19^+ (0.96–5.00)
Age at first sexual intercourse (years)
14–19	1.63* (1.03–2.58)	1.27 (0.65–2.50)
20–24	1.61* (1.10–2.36)	1.37 (0.78–2.43)
25–45^r	1.00	1.00

⁺ p<0.10, *p<0.05, **p<0.01, ***p<0.001.

^rReference group.

Table 4. Multivariate logistic regression models for the relationship between physical, sexual, and emotional gender-based violence (GBV) and induced abortion

	Model 1^1,2		Model 2		Model 3
	Ever had abortion (n=1,118)	Ever had repeat abortion (n=1,118)	Ever had abortion (n=1,118)	Ever had repeat abortion (n=1,118)	Ever had abortion (n=1,118)	Ever had repeat abortion (n=1,118)
Explanatory variables	OR (95% CI)	OR (95% CI)	OR (95% CI)	OR (95% CI)	OR (95% CI)	OR (95% CI)
Ever experienced GBV
Physical GBV
No^r	1.00	1.00
Yes	1.91*** (1.34–2.72)	2.50*** (1.58–3.96)
Sexual GBV
No^r			1.00	1.00
Yes			1.35 (0.88–2.06)	2.28** (1.34–3.88)
Emotional GBV
No^r					1.00	1.00
Yes					1.31 (0.94–1.83)	2.36*** (1.53–3.63)
Ever used contraception
No^r	1.00	1.00	1.00	1.00	1.00	1.00
Yes	4.31** (1.64–11.3)	5.38 (0.71–40.6)	4.28** (1.63–11.2)	5.12 (0.68–38.5)	4.28** (1.63–11.2)	5.17 (0.69–39.0)
Ever had unintended pregnancy
No^r	1.00	1.00	1.00	1.00	1.00	1.00
Yes	2.80** (1.50–5.24)	1.87 (0.76–4.61)	2.72** (1.46–5.07)	1.84 (0.76–4.47)	2.74** (1.47–5.12)	1.78 (0.72–4.37)

⁺ p<0.10, * p<0.05, ** p<0.01, *** p<0.001.

¹The main independent variables for models 1, 2, and 3 were physical GBV, sexual GBV, and emotional GBV, respectively. These independent variables were highly correlated and were therefore examined in separate models.

²Models control for the following (not shown): age, ethnicity, education, occupation, household SES, number of living children, and age at first intercourse.

^rReference group.

Table 5. Multivariate logistic regression models for the relationship between any kind of gender-based violence (GBV) and contraceptive use and unintended pregnancy

	Contraceptive use
	Ever used contraception (n=1,138)	Ever used female only contraceptive method (n=1,124)	Ever used couple contraceptive method (n=1,124)	Ever had unintended pregnancy (n=1,211)
Explanatory variables	OR (95% CI)	OR (95% CI)	OR (95% CI)	OR (95% CI)
Ever experienced any GBV
No^r	1.00	1.00	1.00	1.00
Yes	1.82*** (1.33–2.49)	1.76*** (1.33–2.33)	0.89 (0.62–1.27)	1.66** (1.22–2.26)
Age of respondent (years)
18–24^r	1.00	1.00	1.00	1.00
25–34	1.70* (1.05–2.76)	2.35** (1.39–3.96)	0.65 (0.37–1.15)	0.71 (0.36–1.43)
35–49	1.44 (0.84–2.48)	2.66*** (1.51–4.68)	0.43** (0.22–0.81)	0.41* (0.20–0.87)
Ethnicity
Kinh	1.09 (0.82–1.46)	0.92 (0.69–1.22)	1.36^+ (0.95–1.96)	1.01 (0.72–1.41)
Other^r	1.00	1.00	1.00	1.00
Education
Primary school^r	1.00	1.00	1.00	1.00
Secondary school	0.97 (0.62–1.54)	0.89 (0.58–1.37)	1.13 (0.61–2.09)	1.16 (0.73–1.86)
High school	0.78 (0.45–1.33)	0.85 (0.51–1.43)	0.90 (0.44–1.81)	0.76 (0.42–1.38)
College or higher	1.00 (0.52–1.93)	0.60 (0.36–1.12)	1.76 (0.81–3.84)	0.82 (0.40–1.68)
Occupation
Farmer	0.98 (0.64–1.50)	0.93 (0.62–1.38)	1.07 (0.66–1.73)	1.00 (0.62–1.60)
Other^r	1.00	1.00	1.00	1.00
Household SES
Lowest^r	1.00	1.00	1.00	1.00
Lower	1.30 (0.86–1.96)	1.14 (0.76–1.70)	1.27 (0.72–2.23)	0.88 (0.56–1.39)
Middle	1.80** (1.16–2.78)	1.47^+ (0.97–2.24)	1.34 (0.76–2.37)	0.81 (0.50–1.32)
Higher	1.53^+ (0.94–2.48)	0.91 (0.57–1.46)	2.21** (1.22–4.02)	1.57^+ (0.93–2.64)
Highest	2.15** (1.21–3.81)	1.36 (0.79–2.34)	1.90^+ (0.96–3.74)	1.33 (0.70–2.49)
Number of living children
≤1^r	1.00	1.00	1.00	1.00
2	1.68** (1.18–2.39)	1.61** (1.15–2.25)	1.00 (0.67–1.51)	4.07*** (2.53–6.55)
≥3	1.80* (1.06–3.07)	1.82* (1.10–2.99)	0.83 (0.42–1.66)	18.05*** (9.84–33.12)
Age at first sexual intercourse (years)
14–19	1.37 (0.89–2.10)	2.06*** (1.36–3.11)	0.53* (0.32–0.88)	1.26 (0.76–2.09)
20–24	1.37^+ (0.96–1.96)	1.85*** (1.31–2.61)	0.63* (0.43–0.94)	1.13 (0.73–1.78)
25–45^r	1.00	1.00	1.00	1.00

⁺ p<0.10, *p<0.05, **p<0.01, ***p<0.001.

^rReference group.