Contraception and induced abortions for women of reproductive age married in recent years in rural areas of Shandong, China.
BACKGROUND
In 2001, the Chinese Government published the Population and Family Planning Law which gave citizens the right to know the facts about, and to choose, methods of birth control. Since then, the percentage use of different contraceptive methods has changed. More and more women have been using male condoms for birth control, which has resulted in an increasing prevalence of induced abortions of unintended pregnancies in recent years.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the relationship between choice of contraception methods and rates of induced abortion in the rural areas of Shandong.


METHODS
A questionnaire-based survey on contraceptive methods and abortions in women of reproductive age who married between January 1, 2002, and August 31, 2005, was carried out in 8 sampling communities of rural areas in Shandong Province.


RESULTS
7,159 of 8,520 women of childbearing age took part in the survey, which gave a response rate of 84.0%. The accumulative abortion rate was 2.39% for intrauterine device (IUD) use and 5.46% for male condom use during the period of survey. A longer duration of marriage and a longer time of male condom use increased the rate of induced abortions, while longer periods of IUD use decreased the rate of induced abortions.


CONCLUSIONS
The results indicated that an integrated program for family planning, especially one that better educates condom users, must be initiated in the rural areas of Shandong Province, China.
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Cancer Center, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, China. haoli611@yahoo.com.cn
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D000028:Abortion, Induced / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003267:Contraception / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005193:Family Planning Services / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D012424:Rural Population