Back to home page1994 - VOLUME 20, NUMBER 1
94.76.01 - English - Susheela SINGH and Deirdre WULF, The Alan Guttmacher Institute, New York, NY 10005 (U.S.A.)
Estimated Levels of Induced Abortion in Six Latin American Countries (p. 4-13)
In countries where abortion is illegal, a range of approximate levels of induced abortion can be calculated from data on the number of women hospitalized for treatment of abortion complications, after correcting for underreporting and misreporting and adjusting to eliminate spontanenous abortions. An estimated 550,000 women are hospitalized each year as a result of complications from induced abortion in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Peru. About 2.8 million abortions are estimated to occur in these countries annually when women not hospitalized as a result of induced abortion are taken into account. If the situation in the six countries is assumed to be typical of the entire region, then about 800,000 women are probably hospitalized because of complications of induced abortion in Latin America in a given year, and an estimated four million abortions take place. The abortion rate most likely ranges from 23 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15-49 in Mexico to 52 per 1,000 in Peru, and the absolute number ranges from 82,000 in the Dominican Republic to 1.4 million in Brazil. From 17% of pregnancies in Mexico to 35% in Chile are estimated to end in induced abortion. (LATIN AMERICA, INDUCED ABORTION, ESTIMATES)
94.76.02 - English - Namkee AHN, Universidad del Pais Vasco, Bilbao (Spain), and Abusaleh SHARIFF, Gujarat Institute of Development Research, Gota, Ahmedabad (India)
A Comparative Study of Socioeconomic and Demographic Determinants of Fertility in Togo and Uganda (p. 14-17 & 22)
A comparative study of fertility in Togo and Uganda based on recent Demographic and Health Survey data reveals that in both countries, women younger than 25 and those educated beyond the primary level and having their first birth later later than are older women and women with less education. These differentials are more pronounced in Togo, where they suggest the beginning of voluntary control of fertility, than in Uganda. In Togo, women's education has a large and increasingly negative effect on the tempo of progression to subsequent births, beginning with the fourth year of schooling and accelerating sharply at the seventh year; in Uganda, women's education has no effect. The death of the previous child has a large positive effect on the probability of a short birth interval; this effect is considerably larger in Togo than in Uganda. Furthermore, the community level of infant mortality is positively associated with the probability of an early subsequent birth in Togo, while the opposite is true in Uganda. (TOGO, UGANDA, FERTILITY DETERMINANTS, COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS)
1994 - VOLUME 20, NUMBER 2
94.76.03 - English - Sarah SALWAY, Center for Population Studies, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London (U.K.)
How Attitudes Toward Family Planning and Dicussions Between Wives and Husbands Affect Contraceptive Use in Ghana (p. 44-47 & 74)
A study using data from the 1988 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey reveals that 77% of cohabiting marital partners held similar attitudes toward family planning and that 73% of the concordant couples approved of contraceptive use. However, only 61% of the wives correctly reported their husband's attitude. Although 76% of the couples agreed on whether they wanted more children, just 44% gave concordant responses on ideal family size. Among respondents who reported knowing a contraceptive method, 35% of wives and 39% of husbands said they had discussed family planning with their spouse during the previous year. Regression analysis shows that urban residence, the wife's attitude toward family planning and discussion of family planning between spouses have significant independent effects on current contraceptive use. (GHANA, CONTRACEPTIVE USAGE, ATTITUDE, INTERSPOUSE RELATIONSHIPS)
94.76.04 - English - Barbara S. MENSCH et al.
Family Planning in Nairobi: A Situation Analysis of the City Commission Clinics (p. 48-54)
To gain information on the strengths and weaknesses of the family planning program, a type of diagnostic survey called a situation analysis was conducted in the 46 Nairobi City Commission health clinics offering family planning services. Recordkeeping and contraceptive supplies were satisfactory. However, substantial problems were found in the training, supervision and equipment subsystems, and in some aspects of care. Only 49% of the clients received aseptic services. Insufficient information was provided to clients about the method they accepted, particularly regarding side effects. Provider-client relations were adequate, but waiting times were long, service hours curtailed unnecessarily and some clients sent away without services. Preliminary analysis suggests a positive and significant relationship between quality of care and client load. (KENYA, FAMILY PLANNING centreS, evaluation)
94.76.05 - English - Marcus STEINER, Carla PIEDRAHITA, Carol HOANIS, Lucinda GLOVER, and Alan SPRUYT, Family Health International, Research Triangle Park, NC (U.S.A.)
Condom Breakage and Slippage Rates Among Study Participants in Eight Countries (p. 55-58)
Condom research conducted in the Dominican Republic, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Mexico, Nepal, Sri Lanka and the United States shows that condom breakage rates during vaginal intercourse using lubricated latex condoms range from 0.6% of all condoms used in Sri Lanka to 13.3% in Ghana. Most research sites reported breakage rates below 5%. The rate at which the condom slipped off completely is as high as 9.3% in Kenya, with most of the remaining sites reporting rates below 4%. When breakage and slippage are combined, total condom failure rates range from 3.8% to 13.3%. Although such high condom failure rates may cause alarm, there is evidence that for a majority of users, condoms provide an effective method of preventing pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease infection if they are used correctly. The high overall breakage and slippage rates may be caused by incorrect behavior or by certain characteristics of a few participants. (CONDOM, USE-EFFECTIVENESS)
94.76.06 - English - Karen HARDEE, Family Health International, Research Triangle Park, NC (U.S.A.)
Contraceptive Implant Users and Their Access to Removal Services in Bangladesh (p. 59-65)
A 1990 study of 1,151 Bangladeshi women enrolled in clinical trials of Norplant, the hormonal contraceptive implant, shows that 71% of implant users were from rural areas and that they ranked between users of female sterilization and IUD users in mean number of children and proportion illiterate. Life-table retention rates were 61% at three years. At the time of the survey, 33% of users had requested removal of the implant. The most common reason for requesting removal was menstrual disorders (66%). Although 76% of women who requested removal obtained it at the center of insertion, 9% had the implant removed elsewhere and 15% still had the implant in place. Nearly half (48%) of the women who had the implant removed obtained removal on first request, 22% on second request and 15% on third request; the remaining 15% made more than three requests or went elsewhere for removal. 61% of the women who made more than one request for removal said they were told initially to retain the implant while doctors tried to treat the side effects; others were told that the doctor was too busy to do a removal or that the implant could not be removed for five years. Most of those who obtained removal elsewhere had the implant removed by private doctors or traditional healers unfamiliar with the implant; in a few cases, the client removed the implant herself. (BANGLADESH, NORPLANT, DROPOUTS)
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