Abstract
Objectives
Among women requesting pregnancy termination, we studied the proportion of women who
reported having used contraception when they became pregnant and the contraceptive
method that they had used.
Study design
We included all requests for pregnancy termination in Norway during the years 2007–2011
(n=80,346) by obtaining information from the Norwegian Registry of Pregnancy Termination.
By using a logistic regression model, we estimated odds ratios for using any contraceptive
method associated with the woman's age, previous childbirth, previous pregnancy termination,
marital status, employment status and educational level.
Results
In total, 36.5% of the women who requested pregnancy termination (29,305/80,346) reported
having used contraception when they became pregnant. Of all women, 16.6% reported
having used the combined contraceptive pill/progestin pill, 11.5% the condom and 1.1%
long-acting reversible contraceptives (1.0% intrauterine contraception). Overall,
38.9% of women 20–24 years old had used contraception, compared to 29.9% of women 40–44 years old (odds ratio 0.55, 95% confidence interval 0.51–0.60). Previous childbirth,
previous pregnancy termination and high educational level were also associated with
contraceptive use.
Conclusion
Among women who requested pregnancy termination in Norway, 36.5% reported having used
contraception when they became pregnant. Contraception use was associated with young
age and having previously been pregnant.
Implications
A large proportion of women who request pregnancy termination have experienced contraceptive
failure. Women who are fertile and do not wish to become pregnant should be offered
a contraceptive method that carries low risk of incorrect use.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: April 15, 2016
Accepted:
April 10,
2016
Received in revised form:
April 8,
2016
Received:
June 11,
2015
Identification
Copyright
© 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
