Increasing misreporting levels of induced abortion in Turkey: is this due to social desirability bias?

Abstract

Women tend to under-report or misreport their abortion experiences, mainly because abortion is considered a sensitive issue for cultural, religious, political or other reasons in many countries across the world. Turkey, where induced abortion is an increasingly sensitive issue due to intense statements against induced abortion on religious grounds by influential politicians, and a hidden agenda to prohibit the practice, especially in public health facilities, in recent years, is no exception. This study focused on the increase in level of misreporting of induced abortion in Turkey and its link to social desirability bias using pooled data from 1993 and 2013 Turkish Demographic and Health Surveys. A probabilistic classification model was used to classify women's reported abortions. The findings confirmed that the level of misreporting of induced abortions has increased from 18% to 53% among all terminated pregnancies over the period 1993-2013 in Turkey. This marked increase, especially among women in the lower socioeconomic sections of society, may be largely associated with the prevailing political environment, and increase in social stigmatization against induced abortion in Turkey over recent decades.