title: Unwanted pregnancy and traditional self-induced abortion methods known among women aged 15 to 49.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the traditional methods known and used to terminate an unwanted pregnancy and the fertility characteristics of married women.
  
  
  METHODS
  The descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in Turkey at Afyonkarahisar Zübeyde Hanim Child and Maternity Hospital's outpatient clinic between December 27, 2010 and January 7, 2011, and comprised married women aged 17 to 49 who presented for an examination. Questions related to socio-demographic and fertility characteristics as well as known and used traditional abortion methods were included in the questionnaire which was administered through face-to-face interviews. SPSS 18.0 was used for statistical analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The median age of the 600 women in the study was 29.5 (range: 17-49) years. Overall, 134 (22.3%) women had experienced an unwanted pregnancy. In 53 (39.6%) cases, the unwanted pregnancy had occurred between the ages of 30 and 39, and 116(86.6%) women had married when they were between 15 and 24 (p< 0.008) years old. Pregnancy had been concluded normally in 78(58.2%)women with an unwanted pregnancy and 34(35.8%)preferred the withdrawal method for contraception. Traditional abortion methods were known to 413(68.8%)women, but only 8(1.3%) had used any of them. The harms of using a traditional abortion method were known to 464(77.3%)women.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Very few women used traditional abortion methods to terminate pregnancy. Knowing the characteristics of women and their need for family planning should be the first priority for the prevention of unwanted pregnancies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, AfyonKocatepe University Faculty of Medicine, Afyonkarahisar, Turkey.
authors.forename: Nazli
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sensoy
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, AfyonKocatepe University Faculty of Medicine, Afyonkarahisar, Turkey.
authors.forename: Nurhan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Dogan
authors.affiliation: 6th Grade Medical Student, AfyonKocatepe University Faculty of Medicine, Afyonkarahisar, Turkey.
authors.forename: Kubra
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sen
authors.affiliation: 6th Grade Medical Student, AfyonKocatepe University Faculty of Medicine, Afyonkarahisar, Turkey.
authors.forename: Halit
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Aslan
authors.affiliation: 6th Grade Medical Student, AfyonKocatepe University Faculty of Medicine, Afyonkarahisar, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ayca
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tore-Baser
mesh_terms: D000028:Abortion, Induced; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005193:Family Planning Services; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011247:Pregnancy; D011275:Pregnancy, Unwanted; D014421:Turkey; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Induced abortion, Traditional methods, Female health.