Relying on surveys to understand abortion behavior: some cautionary evidence.
OBJECTIVE
The reliability of abortion self-reports has raised questions about the general usefulness of surveys in research about abortion behavior; however, the extent of underreporting remains a subject of some debate. This study sought to examine abortion reporting in a sample of welfare mothers and to determine factors in underreporting.


METHODS
In New Jersey, which covers abortions requested by welfare recipients under its Medicaid program, the responses of a randomly drawn sample of 1236 welfare mothers about abortion events were compared with the Medicaid claims records of these women.


RESULTS
Only 29% of actual abortions were self-reported by the women in the sample. This finding varied dramatically by race, with substantially higher rates of underreporting by Blacks than by Whites or Hispanics.


CONCLUSIONS
Although race is the most consistent predictor of underreporting behavior, attitudinal factors and survey technology also help in explaining abortion reporting behavior.
Jagannathan
R
R
Department of Urban Studies and Community Health, Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901-1958, USA. radha@rci.rutgers.edu
D000029:Abortion, Legal / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology; D001294:Attitude to Health / Q000208:ethnology*; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008429:Maternal Welfare / Q000208:ethnology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008484:Medicaid / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009042:Motivation; D009515:New Jersey / Q000453:epidemiology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012650:Self Disclosure; D044465:White People / Q000523:psychology