Abstract
Objective:
To estimate the prevalence of women who were admitted to health facilities with abortion-related complications who reported feeling anxious/stressed during their stay, and to identify socio-demographic, facility and abortion-related characteristics associated with self-reported experience of anxiety/stress.
Methods:
We used data from four countries in Eastern and Southern Africa (Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Uganda) that were collected from 2017-2018 as part of the World Health Organization (WHO) Multi-Country Survey on Abortion-related morbidity (MCS-A). Information was extracted from women’s medical records and their participation in audio computer-assisted self-interviews (ACASI). Based on a question in the ACASI, “Did you encounter any anxiety or stress during your hospital stay?”, the percentage of women who self-reported feeling anxious/stressed during their facility stay was calculated. Generalised estimating equations were used to identify the determinants of anxiety/stress following a hierarchical approach whereby potential determinants were grouped from most distal to most proximal and analysed accordingly.
Results:
There were 1,254 women with abortion-related complications included in the analysis, of which 56.5% self-reported that they felt anxious/stressed during their facility stay. We found evidence that lower socio-economic status, lower levels of education, no previous childbirth, no previous abortion, higher gestational age at abortion and use of unsafe methods of abortion were independent determinants of self-reporting anxiety/stress.
Conclusions:
Action should be taken to reduce experience of anxiety/stress among women attending facilities for post-abortion complications, including reducing the number of women experiencing abortion-related complications by improving access to safe abortion. This issue warrants further study using more comprehensive and validated tools to understand the levels and drivers of anxiety/stress self-reported by women attending facilities with abortion-related complications.
To estimate the prevalence of women who were admitted to health facilities with abortion-related complications who reported feeling anxious/stressed during their stay, and to identify socio-demographic, facility and abortion-related characteristics associated with self-reported experience of anxiety/stress.
Methods:
We used data from four countries in Eastern and Southern Africa (Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Uganda) that were collected from 2017-2018 as part of the World Health Organization (WHO) Multi-Country Survey on Abortion-related morbidity (MCS-A). Information was extracted from women’s medical records and their participation in audio computer-assisted self-interviews (ACASI). Based on a question in the ACASI, “Did you encounter any anxiety or stress during your hospital stay?”, the percentage of women who self-reported feeling anxious/stressed during their facility stay was calculated. Generalised estimating equations were used to identify the determinants of anxiety/stress following a hierarchical approach whereby potential determinants were grouped from most distal to most proximal and analysed accordingly.
Results:
There were 1,254 women with abortion-related complications included in the analysis, of which 56.5% self-reported that they felt anxious/stressed during their facility stay. We found evidence that lower socio-economic status, lower levels of education, no previous childbirth, no previous abortion, higher gestational age at abortion and use of unsafe methods of abortion were independent determinants of self-reporting anxiety/stress.
Conclusions:
Action should be taken to reduce experience of anxiety/stress among women attending facilities for post-abortion complications, including reducing the number of women experiencing abortion-related complications by improving access to safe abortion. This issue warrants further study using more comprehensive and validated tools to understand the levels and drivers of anxiety/stress self-reported by women attending facilities with abortion-related complications.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 11 Jan 2022 |