ArticleBMJ global health2018
The magnitude and severity of abortion-related morbidity in settings with limited access to abortion services: a systematic review and meta-regression.
Article in BMJ global health, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 35 papers.
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Who cites it
35 citing papers in PubMed, 84 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effect of intervention based on the 5A self-management model on the improvement of behaviors related to women's reproductive health after legal abortion.Scientific reports · 2023Trial
- Hospitalizations For Abortion Complications in Northeast Brazil, 2014-2024: A Temporal Analysis.Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · 2026Article
- Severity and management of postabortion complications in Kenya: results from a nationally representative cross-sectional survey.BMJ global health · 2026Article
- Article
- Trends and risk factors for physical and psychological sequelae of induced abortion: a cross-sectional study of contemporary women in the Republic of Korea.Osong public health and research perspectives · 2025Article
- Accounting for stillbirths in maternal health metrics: a cross-country analysis.EClinicalMedicine · 2025Article
- Self-managed abortion as a humanitarian revolution: accounts of a telehealth pilot in the Middle East.Conflict and health · 2025Article
- Assessing health systems' capacities to provide post-abortion care: insights from seven low- and middle-income countries.Journal of global health · 2025Article
- Assessing feasibility and acceptability of increasing access to sexual and reproductive health and rights through pharmacy outlets and community health volunteers: lessons from pilot study in Kenya.BMC health services research · 2024Article
- "Sometimes you have knowledge but lack the equipment to save a life": perspectives on health system barriers to post-abortion care in Liberia and Sierra Leone.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2024Article
- [Women's rescuers network: Community support for self-managed abortion in Argentina].Salud colectiva · 2024Article
- Striving toward safe abortion services in Nepal: A review of barriers and facilitators.Health science reports · 2024Article
- An assessment of facility readiness for comprehensive abortion care in 12 districts of Pakistan using the WHO Service Availability and Readiness Assessment tool.Sexual and reproductive health matters · 2023Article
- High severity of abortion complications in fragile and conflict-affected settings: a cross-sectional study in two referral hospitals in sub-Saharan Africa (AMoCo study).BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2023Article
- Association Between Rates of Down Syndrome Diagnosis in States With vs Without 20-Week Abortion Bans From 2011 to 2018.JAMA network open · 2023Article
- Article
- Preventing death following unsafe abortion: a case series from urban Uganda.AJOG global reports · 2022Article
- The effects of stillbirth and abortion on the next pregnancy: a longitudinal study.BMC women's health · 2021Article
- Abortion-related morbidity in six Latin American and Caribbean countries: findings of the WHO/HRP multi-country survey on abortion (MCS-A).BMJ global health · 2021Article
- Abortion-related near-miss morbidity and mortality in 43 health facilities with differences in readiness to provide abortion care in Uganda.BMJ global health · 2021Article
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
introductionDefining and accurately measuring abortion-related morbidity is important for understanding the spectrum of risk associated with unsafe abortion and for assessing the impact of changes in abortion-related policy and practices. This systematic review aims to estimate the magnitude and severity of complications associated with abortion in areas where access to abortion is limited, with a particular focus on potentially life-threatening complications.
methodsA previous systematic review covering the literature up to 2010 was updated with studies identified through a systematic search of Medline, Embase, Popline and two WHO regional databases until July 2016. Studies from settings where access to abortion is limited were included if they quantified the percentage of abortion-related hospital admissions that had any of the following complications: mortality, a near-miss event, haemorrhage, sepsis, injury and anaemia. We calculated summary measures of the percentage of abortion-related hospital admissions with each complication by conducting meta-analysis and explored whether these have changed over time.
resultsBased on data collected between 1988 and 2014 from 70 studies from 28 countries, we estimate that at least 9% of abortion-related hospital admissions have a near-miss event and approximately 1.5% ends in a death. Haemorrhage was the most common complication reported; the pooled percentage of abortion-related hospital admissions with severe haemorrhage was 23%, with around 9% having near-miss haemorrhage reported. There was strong evidence for between-study heterogeneity across most outcomes.
conclusionsIn spite of the challenges on how near miss morbidity has been defined and measured in the included studies, our results suggest that a substantial percentage of abortion-related hospital admissions have potentially life-threatening complications. Estimates that are more reliable will only be obtained with increased use of standard definitions such as the WHO near-miss criteria and/or better reporting of clinical criteria applied in studies.
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