Mental health diagnoses 3 years after receiving or being denied an abortion in the United States

M.A. Biggs, J.M. Neuhaus and D.G. Foster

American Journal of Public Health, 2015, vol. 105, issue 12, 2557-2563

Abstract: Objectives. We set out to assess the occurrence of new depression and anxiety diagnoses in women 3 years after they sought an abortion. Methods. We conducted semiannual telephone interviews of 956 women who sought abortions from 30 US facilities. Adjusted multivariable discrete-time logistic survival models examined whether the study group (women who obtained abortions just under a facility's gestational age limit, who were denied abortions and carried to term, who were denied abortions and did not carry to term, and who received first-trimester abortions) predicted depression or anxiety onset during seven 6-month time intervals. Results. The 3-year cumulative probability of professionally diagnosed depression was 9% to 14%; for anxiety it was 10% to 15%, with no study group differences. Women in the first-trimester group and women denied abortions who did not give birth had greater odds of new self-diagnosed anxiety than did women who obtained abortions just under facility gestational limits. Conclusions. Among women seeking abortions near facility gestational limits, those who obtained abortions were at no greater mental health risk than were women who carried an unwanted pregnancy to term.

Keywords: adult; adverse effects; anxiety; depression; female; gestational age; human; induced abortion; interview; legal abortion; longitudinal study; patient attitude; pregnancy; prospective study; psychology; risk factor; statistical model; statistics and numerical data; United States; young adult, Abortion, Induced; Abortion, Legal; Adult; Anxiety; Depression; Female; Gestational Age; Humans; Interviews as Topic; Logistic Models; Longitudinal Studies; Patient Acceptance of Health Care; Pregnancy; Prospective Studies; Risk Factors; United States; Young Adult (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2015.302803_3

DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2015.302803

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