Trends in the contraceptive practices of women seeking abortions in the 1980s
North, D.A.; Sparrow, M.J.
New Zealand Medical Journal 104(910): 156-158
1991
ISSN/ISBN: 0028-8446 PMID: 2020459 Document Number: 381166
Researchers analyzed data from 1000 abortion patients at the Parkview clinic at Wellington Hospital in New Zealand in 1988-1989 to compare them with those of 1000 patients in a comparable survey at the same clinic in 1980-1981. The overall abortion rate rose from 6.8-9.8, even though contraceptive nonuse by abortion patients consistently fell in the 1980s (50% in 1981; 38% in 1983; 31% in 1989). Age specific abortion rates were statistically different (p=.01). Between 1981-1989, the abortion rate fell for women =or- 16 years and increased in the other age groups. Even though most abortion patients were of European descent (64.8%), they were underrepresented when compared to their proportion in the local population (85.7%). Conversely, the women of Pacific Island descent and those of Asian descent were overrepresented. Indeed 13.1% of abortion patients were of Pacific Island descent while they represented only 3.1% of the population and 9.4% of Asians while they made up only 2.5% of the population. In 1989, 69% of abortion patients experienced contraception failure. 31% did not use contraception but 72% of them had used it in the past. In both studies, condoms and oral contraceptives (OCs) were the leading contraceptives. The most significant change in contraceptive behavior of abortion patients in the 1980s was the increase in condom use (13.3-36.2%; p=.0001). This may be attributed to the increased publicity about safe sex and condom use beginning in 1985. Nevertheless many used them incorrectly or inconsistently. OC use increased from 14-21.4%. Contraceptive behavior varied with ethnicity in 1989 (p=.001). For instance, 60.3% of Pacific Islanders did not use contraception at the time of the survey and 44% of them never used one. European and Asian women tended to use condoms while Maori women preferred OCs. Women in the lowers socioeconomic group were more likely to not use a contraceptive compared to other groups (p=.05).