title: Medical students' attitudes and perceptions on abortion: a cross-sectional survey among medical interns in Maharastra, India.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Although abortion care has been an established routine since decades in India, 8% of maternal mortality is attributed to unsafe abortion. Increased knowledge and improved attitudes among health care providers have a potential to reduce barriers to safe abortion care by reducing stigma and reluctance to provide abortion. Previous research has shown that medical students' attitudes can predict whether they will perform abortions. The objective of our study was to explore attitudes toward abortion among medical interns in Maharastra, India.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional survey was carried out among 1996 medical interns in Maharastra, India. Descriptive and analytical statistics were used to interpret the study instrument.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Almost one quarter of the respondents considered abortion to be morally wrong, one fifth did not find abortions for unmarried women acceptable and one quarter falsely believed that a woman needs her partner or spouse's approval to have an abortion. Most participants agreed that unsafe abortion is a serious health problem in India. A majority of the respondents rated their knowledge of sexual and reproductive health as good, but only 13% had any clinical practice in abortion care services.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Disallowing attitudes toward abortion and misconceptions about the legal regulations were common among the surveyed medical students. Knowledge and attitudes toward abortion among future physicians could be improved by amendments to the medical education, potentially increasing the number of future providers delivering safe and legal abortion services.
  Abortion is legal in India since decades, but maternal mortality due to unsafe abortions remains high. This survey of attitudes toward abortion among medical interns in Maharastra indicates that disallowing views prevail. Improved knowledge and clinical training can increase numbers of potential abortion providers, thus limit unsafe abortion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Women's and Children's Health, IMCH, Uppsala University, SE-751 85 Uppsala, Sweden; Department of Women's and Children's Health, Division of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital, SE-171 76 Stockholm, Sweden. Electronic address: susanne.sjostrom@ki.se.
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sjöström
authors.affiliation: Department of Women's and Children's Health, IMCH, Uppsala University, SE-751 85 Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Birgitta
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Essén
authors.affiliation: Department of Women's and Children's Health, IMCH, Uppsala University, SE-751 85 Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Filip
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sydén
authors.affiliation: Department of Women's and Children's Health, Division of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital, SE-171 76 Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Kristina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gemzell-Danielsson
authors.affiliation: Department of Women's and Children's Health, IMCH, Uppsala University, SE-751 85 Uppsala, Sweden; Department of Women's and Children's Health, Division of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital, SE-171 76 Stockholm, Sweden; School of Health and Social Sciences, Dalarna University, SE-791 88 Falun, Sweden.
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Klingberg-Allvin
mesh_terms: D000029:Abortion, Legal / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology*; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Knowledge; Legal regulation; Medical abortion; Medical education; Medical interns; Midlevel providers