Factors associated with unintended pregnancy in Yamagata, Japan

Aya Goto, Seiji Yasumura, Michael R. Reich and Akira Fukao

Social Science & Medicine, 2002, vol. 54, issue 7, 1065-1079

Abstract: Data on unintended pregnancy are scarce in Japan. The purpose of this study is to examine the association of sociodemographic, reproductive, and other health behavioral factors with unintended pregnancy. A survey was conducted from May through November 1999 in Yamagata, Japan. We distributed anonymous self-administered questionnaires to cervical and breast cancer screening participants aged 35-49 years. There were 564 eligible women, and the number of respondents was 421 (74.6%). The proportion of women who had experienced unintended pregnancy was 46.2%, and 40.1% of them had repeated experiences. Among 312 pre-menopausal married women who did not want to become pregnant, 15.4% were not using any contraception. Factors that were significantly associated with the experience of unintended pregnancy were age of husband being 4 or more years older [Odds ratio (OR)=1.83], and age at initiation of sexual intercourse (OR=1.86) and marriage during teens (OR=11.14). Analysis of 1255 pregnancies that the subjects had experienced showed that 51.2% and 25.9% of mistimed and unwanted pregnancies occurred as a result of no contraceptive use, and 39.5% and 71.1% of these ended in abortions. The number of past unintended pregnancies was significantly (p

Keywords: Reproductive; history; Pregnancy; Unwanted; Contraception; behavior; Japan (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2002
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