title: Fatal flaws in a recent meta-analysis on abortion and mental health.
abstract: Similar to other reviews within the last 4 years, a thorough review by the Royal College of Psychiatrists, published in December 2011, found that compared to delivery of an unintended pregnancy, abortion does not increase women's risk of mental health problems. In contrast, a meta-analysis published in September 2011 concluded that abortion increases women's risk of mental health problems by 81% and that 10% of mental health problems are attributable to abortions. Like others, we strongly question the quality of this meta-analysis and its conclusions. Here we detail seven errors of this meta-analysis and three significant shortcomings of the included studies because policy, practice and the public have been misinformed. These errors and shortcomings render the meta-analysis' conclusions invalid.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA. Julia.Steinberg@ucsf.edu
authors.forename: Julia R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Steinberg
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Trussell
authors.forename: Kelli S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Hall
authors.forename: Kate
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Guthrie
mesh_terms: D000028:Abortion, Induced / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D008603:Mental Health; D015201:Meta-Analysis as Topic; D011247:Pregnancy; D049168:Pregnancy, Unplanned / Q000523:psychology; D012107:Research Design