title: Predictors of Unintended Pregnancy among Married Women in Hamadan, Western Iran: A Case-Control Study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Literatures that focus on the risk factors of unintended pregnancy among married women are limited especially in developing countries. The aim of this study was to determine the predictors of unintended pregnancy in a west region of Iran.
  
  
  METHODS
  This case-control study was conducted from September to November 2011 in Hamadan City, western Iran. A stratified cluster random sampling method was used for data collection. All participants were enrolled voluntarily into the study including 181 cases and 391 controls. Cases were married women with unintended pregnancy. Controls were married women with planned pregnancy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 572 participants, 31 (5.4%) women had not used any methods of contraception prior to the recent pregnancy. The proportion of using ineffective contraceptive methods such as withdrawal was higher in cases than in controls. The most effective predictor of unintended pregnancy was the number of previous alive children so that the risk of unplanned pregnancy increased 3.68 per one child (P<0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study introduced several effective predictors for unintended pregnancy among married women which may be useful for family planning programs. The high-risk population should be strongly advised to use highly effective contraceptive methods such as tubal ligation, vasectomy or OCP provided that being used correctly.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Public Health, School of Public Health, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran.
authors.forename: Parvin
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cheraghi
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Modeling of Noncommunicable Diseases, Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran.
authors.forename: Jalal
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Poorolajal
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Health Sciences and Department of Public Health, School of Public Health, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran.
authors.forename: Babak
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Moeini
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran.
authors.forename: Zahra
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Cheraghi
keywords: Contraception; Family planning; Induced abortion; Iran; Unplanned pregnancy