| Title |
Fundamental discrepancies in abortion estimates and abortion-related mortality: A reevaluation of recent studies in Mexico with special reference to the International Classification of Diseases
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
International Journal of Women's Health, December 2012
|
| DOI | 10.2147/ijwh.s38063 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Elard Koch, Paula Aracena, Sebastián Gatica, Miguel Bravo, Alejandra Huerta-Zepeda, Byron C Calhoun |
| Abstract |
In countries where induced abortion is legally restricted, as in most of Latin America, evaluation of statistics related to induced abortions and abortion-related mortality is challenging. The present article reexamines recent reports estimating the number of induced abortions and abortion-related mortality in Mexico, with special reference to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD). We found significant overestimations of abortion figures in the Federal District of Mexico (up to 10-fold), where elective abortion has been legal since 2007. Significant overestimation of maternal and abortion-related mortality during the last 20 years in the entire Mexican country (up to 35%) was also found. Such overestimations are most likely due to the use of incomplete in-hospital records as well as subjective opinion surveys regarding induced abortion figures, and due to the consideration of causes of death that are unrelated to induced abortion, including flawed denominators of live births. Contrary to previous publications, we found important progress in maternal health, reflected by the decrease in overall maternal mortality (30.6%) from 1990 to 2010. The use of specific ICD codes revealed that the mortality ratio associated with induced abortion decreased 22.9% between 2002 and 2008 (from 1.48 to 1.14 deaths per 100,000 live births). Currently, approximately 98% of maternal deaths in Mexico are related to causes other than induced abortion, such as hemorrhage, hypertension and eclampsia, indirect causes, and other pathological conditions. Therefore, only marginal or null effects would be expected from changes in the legal status of abortion on overall maternal mortality rates. Rather, maternal health in Mexico would greatly benefit from increasing access to emergency and specialized obstetric care. Finally, more reliable methodologies to assess abortion-related deaths are clearly required. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 109 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Ecuador | 14 | 13% |
| Mexico | 12 | 11% |
| Chile | 10 | 9% |
| Argentina | 6 | 6% |
| Spain | 4 | 4% |
| United Kingdom | 3 | 3% |
| Colombia | 2 | 2% |
| Brazil | 1 | <1% |
| Paraguay | 1 | <1% |
| Other | 6 | 6% |
| Unknown | 50 | 46% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 104 | 95% |
| Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 2 | 2% |
| Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 1 | <1% |
| Scientists | 1 | <1% |
| Unknown | 1 | <1% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 42 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 1 | 2% |
| Spain | 1 | 2% |
| United States | 1 | 2% |
| Unknown | 39 | 93% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Researcher | 11 | 26% |
| Student > Doctoral Student | 5 | 12% |
| Student > Master | 5 | 12% |
| Student > Bachelor | 4 | 10% |
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 4 | 10% |
| Other | 9 | 21% |
| Unknown | 4 | 10% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Medicine and Dentistry | 20 | 48% |
| Social Sciences | 8 | 19% |
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 2 | 5% |
| Environmental Science | 1 | 2% |
| Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science | 1 | 2% |
| Other | 3 | 7% |
| Unknown | 7 | 17% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 103. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 04 October 2023.
All research outputs
#413,622
of 25,604,262 outputs
Outputs from International Journal of Women's Health
#26
of 892 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#2,702
of 286,861 outputs
Outputs of similar age from International Journal of Women's Health
#1
of 11 outputs
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So far Altmetric has tracked 892 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 14.5. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 97% of its peers.
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