In Brazil, abortion is among the leading causes of maternal mortality. Research has shown that abortion is practiced clandestinely by women of all social classes, but has unequal consequences depending on social inclusion, producing risks to poor women. Although the issue has been widely explored in the past 20 years, there is a lack of data about low-income women. Thus, the present study aims to estimate the prevalence of women with induced abortion. Women from a population-based household survey in low-income sectors of São Vicente, São Paulo were recruited. Women of childbearing age from 15 to 49 years were eligible. The evaluation of the prevalence ratios for women with induced abortion was performed by using generalized linear models, with Poisson log-link function and robust variance to approximate the binomial. The most frequent variables that influenced reporting of abortion were: "always accept this practice" (95% CI 2.98 - 11.02), followed by "not having a child born alive" (95% CI 1.35 - 19.78), having "two to five live births" (95% CI 1.42 - 14.40 ), "having 'six or more live births" (95% CI 1.35 - 19.78), "age at interview" (95% CI 1.01 - 1.07) and "income" < R$ 484.97' (95% CI 1.04 - 2.96). A widespread campaign about the practice of abortion, which can raise awareness among women in favor of the cause, especially among those in low-income strata is necessary to prevent unnecessary deaths.
Induced abortion; Unsafe abortion; Epidemiology; Poisson Regression; Reproductive health; Poverty
