Unintended pregnancies among women serving in the Israeli military.
OBJECTIVE
The objective was to identify the prevalence of and variables associated with unintended pregnancy among young, unmarried women serving in the Israeli military.


METHODS
We performed a retrospective cohort study of unmarried women drafted by the Israeli military between 2013 and 2015 at the age of 18 years. We used multivariable logistic regression to examine associations between unintended pregnancy and women's education, IQ, immigration status, country of origin, neighborhood socioeconomic status and history of psychiatric illness.


RESULTS
Most women (n=127,262) did not become pregnant while serving in the Israeli military. Unintended pregnancy was reported by 2365, with an additional 6 women reporting pregnancy resulting from sexual assault and 5 an intended pregnancy. Annual rates of unintended pregnancy among young women serving in the Israeli military declined from 1.69% in 2013 to 1.56% in 2014 and 1.33% in 2015. In multivariable models, unintended pregnancy was more common among women soldiers who had not graduated from high school (adjusted relative risk [RR], 5.3; 95% confidence interval [CI], 4.69-6.04) and those who were first-generation immigrants (adjusted RR, 2.1; 95% CI, 1.90-2.35).


CONCLUSIONS
Unintended pregnancy is rare among women serving into the Israeli military.


CONCLUSIONS
Increasing contraceptive use among women who have not graduated from high school may further reduce rates of unintended pregnancy among women serving in the Israeli military.
Medical Corps, Israel Defense Forces.
Misgav
M
Rottenstreich
Medical Corps, Israel Defense Forces.
Limor
L
Loitner
Medical Corps, Israel Defense Forces.
Shir
S
Dar
Medical Corps, Israel Defense Forces.
Ron
R
Kedem
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Assaf Harofeh Medical Center, affiliated with Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel.
Noam
N
Smorgick
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Assaf Harofeh Medical Center, affiliated with Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel. Electronic address: vakninzvi@gmail.com.
Zvi
Z
Vaknin
D000293:Adolescent; D003268:Contraception Behavior / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004522:Educational Status; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel; D016015:Logistic Models; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011247:Pregnancy; D049168:Pregnancy, Unplanned; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult
Abortions; Military personnel; Reproductive health; Unintended pregnancy