ArticleBMJ global health2020
Estimating the incidence of abortion: using the Abortion Incidence Complications Methodology in Ghana, 2017.
Article in BMJ global health, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 38 papers.
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Who cites it
38 citing papers in PubMed, 48 citations in OpenAlex.
- Social Network-Based Induced Abortion Incidence Estimation in Burkina Faso: Examining the Impact of the Network Generating Question.Studies in family planning · 2022Trial
- Unintended pregnancy and induced abortion in Sierra Leone: abortion incidence complications method-based estimates.BMC public health · 2026Article
- A Bayesian Framework to Account for Misclassification Error and Uncertainty in the Estimation of Abortion Prevalence.Studies in family planning · 2026Article
- Article
- Determinants and dynamics of repeat unsafe abortion in Ghana-a mixed-method study at Tema General Hospital.Frontiers in global women's health · 2026Article
- Framing menstrual regulation as a pathway to advancing reproductive autonomy in restrictive legal contexts.Frontiers in reproductive health · 2026Article
- Perceived factors shaping unsafe abortion practices among young women in Bongo District, Ghana.Frontiers in reproductive health · 2026Article
- Abortion safety in Ghana: does motivation matter?BMC public health · 2025Article
- Assessing induced abortion underreporting in restrictive settings using prospective morbidity surveys from Kenya, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Determinants of abortion among women of reproductive age in Ghana: multilevel analysis evidence from the 2022 Ghana demographic and health survey.BMC women's health · 2025Article
- Quality of post-abortion care services in the greater Accra region: connecting the perspectives of service providers and experiences of clients.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Article
- Knowledge of Ghana's liberal abortion law and use of modern contraceptives among women of reproductive age.Reproductive health · 2025Article
- Exploring women's knowledge of abortion legality and association with source of abortion care using population-based survey data in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana.Reproductive health · 2024Article
- Article
- Expanding access to early medical abortion services in Ghana with telemedicine: findings from a pilot evaluation.Sexual and reproductive health matters · 2023Article
- Estimating induced abortion incidence and the use of non-recommended abortion methods and sources in two provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Kinshasa and Kongo Central) in 2021: results from population-based, cross-sectional surveys of reproductive-aged women.Sexual and reproductive health matters · 2023Article
- Male engagement in family planning: the role of faith leaders in urban West Africa.Journal of public health (Oxford, England) · 2023Article
- Menstrual regulation: examining the incidence, methods, and sources of care of this understudied health practice in three settings using cross-sectional population-based surveys.BMC women's health · 2023Article
- Article
- Abortion incidence and safety in Niger in 2021: Findings from a nationally representative cross-sectional survey of reproductive-aged women using direct and indirect measurement approaches.PLOS global public health · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Introduction: Induced abortion is legally permitted in Ghana under specific conditions, but access to services that meet guidelines approved by government is limited. As part of a larger project comparing five methodologies to estimate abortion incidence, we implemented an indirect estimation approach: the Abortion Incidence Complications Methodology (AICM), to understand the incidence of abortion in Ghana in 2017. Methods: We drew a nationally representative, two-stage, stratified sample of health facilities. We used information from 539 responding facilities to estimate treated complications stemming from illegal induced abortions, and to estimate the number of legal abortions provided. We used information from 146 knowledgeable informants to generate zonal multipliers representing the inverse of the proportion of illegal induced abortions treated for complications in facilities in Ghana's three ecological zones. We applied multipliers to estimates of treated complications from illegal abortions, and added legal abortions to obtain an annual estimate of all induced abortions. Results: The AICM approach suggests that approximately 200 000 abortions occurred in Ghana in 2017, corresponding to a national abortion rate of 26.8 (95% CI 21.7 to 31.9) per 1000 women 15-49. Abortion rates were lowest in the Northern zone (18.6) and highest in the Middle zone (30.4). Of all abortions, 71% were illegal. Conclusion: Despite Ghana's relatively liberal abortion law and efforts to expand access to safe abortion services, illegal induced abortion appears common. A concurrently published paper compares the AICM-derived estimates presented in this paper to those from other methodological approaches.
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