title: Prevalence and associated factors of induced abortion among rural married women: a cross-sectional survey in Anhui, China.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study aims to assess the prevalence of and factors associated with induced abortion among married women in rural areas of Anhui Province, China.
  
  
  METHODS
  A multistage probability sampling method was used to identify a representative sample of 53,652 married women aged 18-49 years in rural areas of Anhui Province, China. All women were interviewed in the form of a standardized questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found that 32.0% (16,800) of these women had had at least one induced abortion: 21.1% (11,090) of women had had one; 7.6% (3976) of women had had two; and 4.1% (1734) of women had had at least three. The number of induced abortions per 100 pregnancies was found to be 22.0. Multivariate analysis showed that education, the age of a woman at her first marriage, number of total births, number of total pregnancies, and contraceptive methods were significant predictors for induced abortion after controlling for women's current age, employment and family yearly income.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study shows that the prevalence of induced abortion is still very high among married women in rural China, and highly effective methods of contraception (sterilization, intrauterine device) decrease women's recourse to induced abortion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China; Anhui No. 2 Province People's Hospital, Hefei, Anhui, China.
authors.forename: Guo-Peng
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Ren-Jie
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xiu-Jun
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xiao-Min
authors.initials: XM
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.forename: Xiu-De
authors.initials: XD
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Xiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Cheng-Cheng
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tong
authors.forename: Ye-Huan
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D000028:Abortion, Induced / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003267:Contraception / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D020073:Gravidity; D006801:Humans; D017533:Marital Status; D008875:Middle Aged; D010298:Parity; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: abortion; contraception behavior; induced; prevalence; questionnaire; rural health services