Estimating the frequency of induced abortion: a comparison of two methods
Estimating the frequency of induced abortion: a comparison of two methods
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DOI：
10.1590/s1020-49892004000500008
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发表时间：
2004-05-01
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
Moreira Filho, Djalma de Carvalho
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Olinto, Maria Teresa Anselmo;Moreira Filho, Djalma de Carvalho
目标。比较两种方法--“投票箱”法和“间接提问”法--在人群研究中估计人工流产的频率。一项基于人口的横断面研究对居住在巴西南里奥格兰德州佩洛塔斯市的3002名年龄在15岁至49岁之间的有代表性的妇女进行了调查。这些妇女通过多阶段抽样被随机分配，在回答了收集社会经济和人口信息的一般问卷后，用两种方法中的一种回答有关人工流产的问题。通过“投票箱”方法，妇女收到一张小纸条，其中包含关于堕胎的直接问题。每个妇女都在纸上标出了自己的答案，然后将其放入面试官随身携带的一个小“投票箱”中，从而确保了答案的保密性。在第二种方法中，面试官口头询问了这位女士一系列间接询问堕胎情况的问题。在被分配到投票箱方法的女性中，7.2%的人报告至少堕胎过一次，而被分配到间接提问方法的女性中，这一比例为3.8%。两种方法的比值为1.89(95%可信区间：1.39~2.6；P<；0.001)。在接受调查的45-49岁(生殖寿命结束时)并使用投票箱方法回答问题的妇女中，12%的人报告说在她们的一生中至少经历过一次人工流产。在用投票箱方式回答的女性中，她们给出的堕胎的主要原因是经济困难、年龄太小和单身。在回答投票箱方法问题的妇女中，大约有一半的人报告她们曾使用不安全的程序来引产，其中13%的人使用米索前列醇。投票箱法适用于研究人工流产的频率，以及研究可能导致受访者报告不足的其他专题，特别是在以人口为基础的样本中。重新表述投票箱方法关于堕胎的问题(例如，删除“儿童”一词)可能会提高该方法的敏感性，即它检测已发生的人工流产的能力。
Objective. To compare two methods-the "ballot box" method and the "indirect questioning" method-for estimating the frequency of induced abortions in population-based studies.Methods. A cross-sectional population-based study was conducted with a representative sample of 3 002 women between 15 and 49 years of age living in the city of Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The women were selected through multistage sampling and randomly assigned to answer questions concerning induced abortion with one of the two methods, after they had answered a general questionnaire that collected socioeconomic and demographic information. With the "ballot box" method, women received a small piece of paper containing direct questions on abortion. Each woman marked her answers on the paper and then deposited it into a small "ballot box" carried by the interviewer, thus assuring the confidentiality of the responses. With the second method, the interviewer verbally asked the woman a series of questions that indirectly inquired about abortion.Results. Among the women assigned to the ballot box method, 7.2% reported having induced at least one abortion, versus 3.8% of the women assigned to the indirect questioning method. The ratio between the two methods was 1.89 (95% confidence interval: 1.39 to 2.60; P < 0.001). Of the women surveyed who were 45-49 years old (at the end of their reproductive life) and answered using the ballot box method, 12% of them reported having had at least one induced abortion in their lifetime. Among the women who answered using the ballot box method, the main reasons they gave for having had an abortion were economic difficulties, being too young, and being single. Approximately half of the women responding to the ballot box method questions reported they had used unsafe procedures to induce abortion, with 13% of them using misoprostol.Conclusions. The ballot box method was suitable for studying the frequency of induced abortion and for researching other topics that may lead to underreporting by the persons interviewed, especially in population-based samples. Rephrasing the ballot box method question about abortion (for example, eliminating the word "child") would probably increase the method's sensitivity, that is, its ability to detect induced abortions that had occurred.