Jacqueline E. Darroch

Adolescent pregnancy and childbearing: levels and trends in developed countries.

CONTEXT Adolescent pregnancy occurs in all societies, but the level of teenage pregnancy and childbearing varies from country to country. A cross-country analysis of birth and abortion measures is valuable for understanding trends, for identifying countries that are exceptional and for seeing where further in-depth studies are needed to understand observed patterns. METHODS Birth, abortion and population data were obtained from various sources, such as national vital statistics reports, official statistics, published national and international sources, and government statistical offices. Trend data on adolescent birthrates were compiled for 46 countries over the period 1970-1995. Abortion rates for a recent year were available for 33 of the 46 countries, and data on trends in abortion rates could be gathered for 25 of the 46 countries. RESULTS The level of adolescent pregnancy varies by a factor of almost 10 across the developed countries, from a very low rate in the Netherlands (12 pregnancies per 1,000 adolescents per year) to an extremely high rate in the Russian Federation (more than 100 per 1,000). Japan and most western European countries have very low or low pregnancy rates (under 40 per 1,000); moderate rates (40-69 per 1,000) occur in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and a number of European countries. A group of five countries--Belarus, Bulgaria, Romania, the Russian Federation and the United States--have pregnancy rates of 70 or more per 1,000. The adolescent birthrate has declined in the majority of industrialized countries over the past 25 years, and in some cases has been more than halved. Similarly, pregnancy rates in 12 of the 18 countries with accurate abortion reporting showed declines. Decreases in the adolescent abortion rate, however, were less prevalent. CONCLUSIONS The trend toward lower adolescent birthrates and pregnancy rates over the past 25 years is widespread and is occurring across the industrialized world, suggesting that the reasons for this general trend are broader than factors limited to any one country: increased importance of education, increased motivation of young people to achieve higher levels of education and training, and greater centrality of goals other than motherhood and family formation for young women.

Contraceptive use among U.S. women having abortions in 2000-2001.

CONTEXT Knowing the extent to which contraceptive nonuse, incorrect or inconsistent use, and method failure account for unintended pregnancies ending in abortion, as well as reasons for nonuse and imperfect use, can help policymakers and family planning providers support effective contraceptive use. METHODS Contraceptive use patterns among a nationally representative sample of 10,683 women receiving abortion services in 2000-2001 were examined, as well as reasons for nonuse, problems with the most frequently used methods and the impact emergency contraceptive pills have had on abortion rates. RESULTS Forty-six percent of women had not used a contraceptive method in the month they conceived, mainly because of perceived low risk of pregnancy and concerns about contraception (cited by 33% and 32% of nonusers respectively). The male condom was the most commonly reported method among all women (28%), followed by the pill (14%). Inconsistent method use was the main cause of pregnancy for 49% of condom users and 76% of pill users; 42% of condom users cited condom breakage or slippage as a reason for pregnancy. Substantial proportions of pill and condom users indicated perfect method use (13-14%). As many as 51,000 abortions were averted by use of emergency contraceptive pills in 2000. CONCLUSIONS Women and men need accurate information about fertility cycles and about the risk of pregnancy when a contraceptive is not used or is used imperfectly. Increased use of emergency contraceptive pills could further reduce levels of unintended pregnancy and abortion.

Differences in teenage pregnancy rates among five developed countries: the roles of sexual activity and contraceptive use

CONTEXT Adolescent pregnancy, birth, abortion and sexually transmitted disease (STD) rates are much higher in the United States than in most other developed countries. METHODS Government statistics or nationally representative survey data were supplemented with data collected by private organizations or for regional or local populations to conduct studies of adolescent births, abortions, sexual activity and contraceptive use in Canada, the United States, Sweden, France and Great Britain. RESULTS Adolescent childbearing is more common in the United States (22% of women reported having had a child before age 20) than in Great Britain (15%), Canada (11%), France (6%) and Sweden (4%); differences are even greater for births to younger teenagers. A lower proportion of teenage pregnancies are resolved through abortion in the United States than in the other countries; however, because of their high pregnancy rate, U.S. teenagers have the highest abortion rate. The age of sexual debut varies little across countries, yet American teenagers are the most likely to have multiple partners. A greater proportion of U.S. women reported no contraceptive use at either first or recent intercourse (25% and 20%, respectively) than reported nonuse in France (11% and 12%, respectively), Great Britain (21% and 4%, respectively) and Sweden (22% and 7%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS Data on contraceptive use are more important than data on sexual activity in explaining variation in levels of adolescent pregnancy and childbearing among the five developed countries; however, the higher level of multiple sexual partnership among American teenagers may help explain their higher STD rates.

Factors associated with contraceptive choice and inconsistent method use, United States, 2004.

CONTEXT Pregnancies among contraceptive users account for nearly half of all unintended pregnancies and are almost entirely due to inconsistent or incorrect contraceptive use. Understanding what factors contribute to inconsistent contraceptive behavior can help efforts to reduce unintended pregnancy. METHODS In 2004, a nationally representative sample of women aged 18-44 using reversible contraceptive methods were surveyed to examine factors associated with contraceptive choice and with inconsistent use of the pill and condoms. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were used to examine the data. RESULTS Contraceptive choice was associated with a range of socioeconomic and partnership characteristics, and with pregnancy-, method- and provider-related experiences and attitudes; inconsistent pill or condom use was associated mainly with partnership, experiential and attitudinal factors. For example, not having a college education was negatively associated with pill use (odds ratio, 0.6) and positively associated with use of long-acting methods (1.8-1.9). Women for whom avoiding pregnancy was only a little or not important had reduced odds of using the pill (0.4) and elevated odds of using other methods, such as withdrawal or periodic abstinence (4.4), and of using condoms inconsistently (2.6). Use of a method chosen mostly out of dislike of other methods was positively associated with condom use (4.0) and negatively associated with use of the pill or long-acting methods (0.4 for each). Women who were not completely satisfied with their method were more likely than others to use their method inconsistently (1.6 for pill users and 1.9 for condom users). CONCLUSIONS Greater efforts are needed to provide women and their partners with a range of method options, to facilitate selection of methods that best suit their needs and circumstances, and to identify and assist users who are dissatisfied or are having difficulties using contraceptives effectively.

Patterns in the socioeconomic characteristics of women obtaining abortions in 2000-2001.

CONTEXT Information about the socioeconomic characteristics of women obtaining abortions in the United States can help policymakers and family planning providers determine which groups of women need better access to contraceptive services. METHODS A representative sample of more than 10,000 women obtaining abortions from a stratified probability sample of 100 U.S. providers were surveyed in 2000-2001; survey data are used to examine the demographic characteristics of women who terminate pregnancies. This information, along with other national-level data, is used to estimate abortion rates and ratios for subgroups of women and examine recent changes in these measures. RESULTS. In 2000, 21 out of every 1,000 women of reproductive age had an abortion. Women who are aged 18-29, unmarried, black or Hispanic, or economically disadvantaged-including those on Medicaid-have higher abortion rates. The overall abortion rate decreased by 11% between 1994 and 2000. The decline was greatest for 15-17-year-olds, women in the highest income category, those with college degrees and those with no religious affiliation. Abortion rates for women with incomes below 200% of poverty and for women with Medicaid coverage increased between 1994 and 2000. The rate of decline in abortion among black and Hispanic adolescents was lower than that among white adolescents, and the abortion rate among poor teenagers increased substantially. CONCLUSIONS Increased efforts are needed to help both adolescent women and adult women of all economic statuses avoid unintended pregnancies.

Predicting maternal behaviors during pregnancy: does intention status matter?

CONTEXT Womens behavior during pregnancy, which can affect the health of their infant, may be influenced by their attitude toward the pregnancy. METHODS Multivariate analyses of data from the 1988 National Maternal and Infant Health Survey and the 1988 National Survey of Family Growth were conducted to investigate whether women with unplanned births differ from other women in their pregnancy behavior, independent of their social and demographic characteristics. RESULTS Women with intended conceptions are more likely than similar women with unintended pregnancies to recognize early signs of pregnancy and to seek out early prenatal care, and somewhat more likely to quit smoking, but they are not more likely than women with comparable social and demographic characteristics to adhere to a recommended schedule of prenatal visits once they begin care, to reduce alcohol intake, or to follow their clinicians advice about taking vitamins and gaining weight. Social and demographic differences in these behaviors are largely unaffected by planning status, indicating that these differences are independently related to pregnancy behaviors. CONCLUSIONS Both the intendedness of a pregnancy and the mothers social and demographic characteristics are important predictors of pregnancy-related behavior.

Age differences between sexual partners in the United States.

CONTEXT Researchers have examined the age of partners of young women at first intercourse and of young women who have given birth, but little is known about the age of partners of young women in current sexual relationships or young women who have had an abortion. METHODS Data from the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) were used to examine age differences between women and their current partner and womens use of contraceptives at last intercourse, by marital status and by the age difference between women and their partner. Data from the NSFG and the 1994-1995 Alan Guttmacher Institute Abortion Patient Survey, with supplemental information from other sources, were used to estimate 1994 pregnancy rates for women by their age and marital status, according to the age difference between the women and their partner. RESULTS Among all sexually active women aged 15-44, 10% had a partner who was three or more years younger, 52% a partner who was within two years of their age, 20% a partner who was 3-5 years older, and 18% a partner who was six or more years older. In contrast, 64% of sexually active women aged 15-17 had a partner within two years of their age, 29% a partner who was 3-5 years older, and 7% a partner who was six or more years older. Among women younger than 18, the pregnancy rate among those with a partner who was six or more years older was 3.7 times as high as the rate among those whose partner was no more than two years older. Among women younger than 18 who became pregnant, those with a partner who was six or more years older were less likely to have an unintended pregnancy (70%) or to terminate an unintended pregnancy (21%) than were those whose partner was no more than two years older (82% and 49%, respectively). Among women younger than 18 who were at risk of unintended pregnancy, 66% of those who had a partner who was six or more years older had practiced contraception at last sex, compared with 78% of those with a partner within two years of their own age. Young women who were Catholic and those who had first had sex with their partner within a relatively committed relationship were less likely to be involved with a man who was six or more years older than were young women who were Protestants and those who first had sex with their partner when they were dating, friends or had just met. Young women who had ever been forced to have sex were twice as likely as those who had not to have a partner who was 3-5 years older. CONCLUSION Although the proportion of 15-17-year-old women who have a much older partner is small, these adolescents are of concern because of their low rate of contraceptive use and their relatively high rates of pregnancy and birth. Research is needed to determine why some young women have relationships with an older man, and how their partners characteristics affect their reproductive behavior.

Sexually transmitted diseases among adolescents in developed countries

CONTEXT Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are responsible for a variety of health problems, and can have especially serious consequences for adolescents and young adults. An international comparison of levels and trends in STDs would be useful to identify countries that are relatively successful in controlling the incidence of STDs, as a first step toward improving policies and programs in countries with high or growing STD incidence. METHODS Incidence data for the past decade on three common bacterial STDs--syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia--were obtained for as many as 16 developed countries from official statistics, published national sources or scientific articles, and unpublished government data. Rates of incidence per 100,000 were calculated for adolescents, for young adults and for the total population. (These estimates should be considered conservative, because STDs commonly are underreported.) RESULTS The incidence of these three STDs has generally decreased over the last decade, both in the general population and among adolescents. However, the Russian Federation is an important exception: Syphilis has risen dramatically in the 1990s. Except in the Russian Federation and Romania, the syphilis rate in the mid-1990s was quite low, with rates of less than seven reported cases per 100,000 teenagers in most developed countries. Gonorrhea incidence is many times higher than that of syphilis in several countries, and this disease disproportionately affects adolescents and young adults. Gonorrhea rates among adolescents can be as high as 600 per 100,000 (in the Russian Federation and the United States), although in many countries the reported rate among teenagers is below 10 per 100,000. In all countries with good reporting, chlamydia incidence is extremely high among adolescents (between 563 and 1,081 cases per 100,000). The reported incidence of all three STDs is generally higher among female teenagers than among males of the same age; this is especially true for chlamydia. CONCLUSION Prevention programs, active screening strategies and better access to STD diagnosis and treatment services, especially for adolescents and young adults, are necessary to reduce the incidence and the burden of STDs among young people.

Measuring the extent of abortion underreporting in the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth.

CONTEXT Induced abortions are often severely underreported in national surveys, hampering the estimation and analysis of unintended pregnancies. To improve the level of abortion reporting, the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) incorporated new interview and self-report procedures, as well as a monetary incentive to respondents. METHODS The weighted numbers of abortions reported in the main interview of the 1995 NSFG (Cycle 5), in the self-report and in the two procedures combined are compared with abortion estimates from The Alan Guttmacher Institute. The Cycle 5 estimates are also compared with estimates from previous cycles of the NSFG. RESULTS The self-report produces better reporting than the main interview, but combining data from the two procedures yields the highest count of abortions. For the period 1991-1994, the level of reporting is 45% in the main interview, 52% in the self-report and 59% when the two methods are combined. The level of abortion reporting in the combined data ranges from 40% for women with an income less than the federal poverty level to more than 75% among women who were older than 35, those who were married at the time of their abortion and those with an income above 200% of the poverty level. The completeness of abortion reporting in the main interview of Cycle 5, though indicating a remarkable improvement over reporting in Cycle 4, is comparable to the levels in Cycles 2 and 3. CONCLUSIONS The usefulness of the NSFG remains extremely limited for analyses involving unintended pregnancy and abortion.

The Effects of Pregnancy Planning Status On Birth Outcomes and Infant Care

CONTEXT The planning status of a pregnancy may affect a womans prenatal behaviors and the health of her newborn. However, whether this effect is independent or is attributable to socioeconomic and demographic factors has not been explored using nationally representative data. METHODS Data were obtained on 9,122 births reported in the 1988 National Maternal and Infant Health Survey and 2,548 births reported in the 1988 National Survey of Family Growth. Multiple logistic regression analyses were employed to examine the effects of planning status on the odds of a negative birth outcome (premature delivery, low-birth-weight infant or infant who is small for gestational age), early well-baby care and breastfeeding. RESULTS The proportion of infants born with a health disadvantage is significantly lower if the pregnancy was intended than if it was mistimed or not wanted; the proportions who receive well-baby care by age three months and who are ever breastfed are highest if the pregnancy was intended. In analyses controlling for the mothers background characteristics, however, a mistimed pregnancy has no significant effect on any of these outcomes. An unwanted pregnancy increases the likelihood that the infants health will be compromised (odds ratio, 1.3), but the association is no longer significant when the mothers prenatal behaviors are also taken into account. Unwanted pregnancy has no independent effect on the likelihood of well-baby care, but it reduces the odds of breastfeeding (0.6). CONCLUSIONS Knowing the planning status of a pregnancy can help identify women who may need support to engage in prenatal behaviors that are associated with healthy outcomes and appropriate infant care.