Induced abortions in Danish cancer survivors: a population-based cohort study.
To learn whether female cancer survivors are more likely to terminate a pregnancy by choice than other women, the occurrence of induced abortions was determined in a population-based cohort of 1688 childhood cancer survivors. Proportion ratios (PRs) were estimated from the ratio of the proportion of pregnancies that resulted in induced abortions among the survivors (or 16 700 randomly selected population control subjects) to the proportion among 2737 sisters of the survivors. The proportion of induced abortions among survivors (292 of 1479 [19.7%]) was marginally higher but not statistically significantly different from that among sisters (961 of 5092 [18.9%]; PR = 1.08, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.96 to 1.22) and similar to that of the population control subjects (5505 of 27 989 [19.7%]; PR = 1.07, 95% CI = 1.01 to 1.14). Survivors were not more likely than sisters and population control subjects to elect a second-trimester abortion because of physical and mental conditions or fetal abnormalities.
Winther
Jeanette Falck
JF
Institute of Cancer Epidemiology, Danish Cancer Society, Strandboulevarden 49, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark. jeanette@cancer.dk
Boice
John D
JD
Svendsen
Anne Louise
AL
Frederiksen
Kirsten
K
Olsen
Jørgen H
JH
D000028:Abortion, Induced / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015986:Confounding Factors, Epidemiologic; D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008498:Medical Record Linkage; D009369:Neoplasms; D011247:Pregnancy; D011261:Pregnancy Trimester, First; D011262:Pregnancy Trimester, Second; D035781:Siblings; D017741:Survivors / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult