Acceptance of Medical Abortion Method and Associated Factors Among Women Attending Public and Non-Governmental Organization Clinics in Dire Dawa City Administrative Council

Abstract

Unsafe abortion is estimated to account 13% of maternal mortality globally and 25-35 % in Ethiopia also was reported to be among the major causes of maternal mortality. Medical abortion method is said to be safe, effective, and acceptable for termination of early pregnancy to women in several countries. This study was aimed to assess women’s acceptance of Medical abortion method and associated factors in public and NGO clinic in Dire Dawa city. Method: A facility based cross sectional study. The study population was 422 women aged 15 to 49 years who were attending the health facilities to get MCH services. Simple random sampling procedure was applied to select the health facilities and data was collected by nurses using a structured interviewer questionnaire that was developed according to the study variables. Data was analyzed using Epi info and SPSS 17.0 statistical software. Result: 82.2% of Medical abortion user and 60.9% of non user are willing to accept Medical Abortion methods as a safe abortion method. Ever used contraceptive (OR=3.22 95% CI (1.19, 8.69) and previous experience of induced abortion (OR=3.18 95% CI (1.33, 7.57) were highly associated with the acceptance of medical abortion method. Conclusion: There is high positive attitude towards medical abortion method. The positive outcome and high willingness levels to accept the method among the participants, illustrate the importance of an ongoing and improved accessibility of medical abortion for women in Dire Dawa. It is important to improve public awareness to expand opportunities for new users.