Causes of Unintended Abortion: Evidence from Bangladesh

Background: Unintended abortion remains a critical public health issue globally, necessitating a comprehensive understanding of its determinants, particularly in regions like Bangladesh with high prevalence rates. Aim:The study aims to identify the key sociodemographic, economic, and healthcare-related factors associated with unintended abortion in Bangladesh and to assess the relationship between these factors and the utilization of family planning or birth control methods.Methods: This study used quantitative methods with data from the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey 2014.Variables were measured quantitatively, and multiple regression analysis was employed.The sample included 17,300 households, with 3,830 married women who had terminated pregnancies.Sampling was two-staged, resulting in 18,000 households.Multiple linear regression identified factors influencing unintended abortion, detailed in the Results section.Result: Findings show the highest rates among women under 18 (61.31%)and 19-29 (37.61%), declining with age (Table 1), and higher rates among women with secondary or no education (28.5% and 27.2%, respectively) compared to those with higher education (8.0%) (Table 2).Additionally, non-agricultural workers (24.84%) and construction workers (23.59%) experience higher termination rates (Table 3).A U-shaped association is observed between marriage to first birth interval and unintended abortion (Figure 1), while contraceptive users have lower termination rates (23.24%)compared to non-users (76.76%) (Table 4).Regression analysis identifies age (t = -5.010,p < 0.001), type of place (t = 16.494,p < 0.001), and marriage to first birth interval (t = 2.341, p = 0.019) as significant predictors of unintended abortion, with corresponding t-values and significance levels detailed in Table 5. Conclusion:Our study identified key sociodemographic, economic, and healthcare factors associated with unintended abortion in Bangladesh.Younger age, lower education, demanding occupations, and specific birth intervals were associated with higher risk, while consistent contraceptive use was protective.