Objectives Retrospective assessment of pregnancy intention may be unreliable as women's perceptions of a past conception can change over time. We compared the stability of retrospective pregnancy intention reporting over 5 years among women who sought and either received, or were denied, an abortion. Methods We recruited women from 30 abortion facilities across the United States in 2008-2010. Participants, some who received abortions and others who were denied care because they presented beyond facilities gestational limits, were followed prospectively for 5 years (n = 827). At enrollment and semiannually from year-2 to year-5, women completed the London Measure of Unplanned Pregnancy (LMUP), a six-item measure (scored 0-12), regarding the index pregnancy. We used multivariable mixed-effects models to assess the stability of retrospective reports of index pregnancy intendedness and compared trajectories by group, accounting for site and participant clustering. Our hypotheses were that intention would tend towards "more intended" over time among women denied abortions, who carried the pregnancies to term, and remain stable among women who received the abortion. Results Baseline LMUP scores were low (mean: 2.8) and similar by study group. Scores increased among women denied the abortion by year-2 (from 2.9 to 3.5; p < 0.001) and were steady through year-5. For women having near-limit abortions, reported intentions were steady between baseline (mean: 2.7) and year-2 (2.8), and declined thereafter through year-5 (to 2.5; p < 0.001). Conclusions Women somewhat shifted their perceptions of their intentions in correspondence with the pregnancy outcome. Retrospective estimates may underestimate the degree to which births result from unintended pregnancy.

BACKGROUND:Existing approaches to measuring women's pregnancy intentions suffer important limitations, including retrospective assessment, overly simple categories, and a presumption that all women plan pregnancies. No psychometrically valid scales exist to prospectively measure the ranges of women's pregnancy preferences. MATERIALS AND METHODS:Using a rigorous construct modeling approach, we developed a scale to measure desire to avoid pregnancy. We developed 60 draft items from existing research, assessed comprehension through 25 cognitive interviews, and administered items in surveys with 594 nonpregnant women in 7 primary and reproductive health care facilities in Arizona, New Jersey, New Mexico, South Carolina, and Texas in 2016-2017. We used item response theory to reduce the item set and assess the scale's reliability, internal structure validity, and external validity. Items were included based on fit to a random effects multinomial logistic regression model (partial credit item response model), correspondence of item difficulty with participants' pregnancy preference levels, and consistency of each item's response options with overall scale scores. RESULTS:The 14 final items covered 3 conceptual domains: cognitive preferences, affective feelings, and practical consequences. Items fit the unidimensional model, with a separation reliability of 0.90 (Cronbach α: 0.95). The scale met established criteria for internal validity, including correspondence between each item's response categories and overall scale scores. We found no important differential item functioning by participant characteristics. CONCLUSIONS:A robust measure is available to prospectively measure desire to avoid pregnancy. The measure can aid in identifying women who could benefit from contraceptive care and research on less desired pregnancy.

Objectives

An understanding of the relationship between individuals' pregnancy preferences and contraceptive use is essential for appropriate patient-centered counseling and care. We examined the relationship between women's pregnancy preferences and contraceptive use using a new prospective measure, the Desire to Avoid Pregnancy (DAP) scale.

Study design

As part of a study examining women's suspicion and confirmation of new pregnancies, we recruited patients aged 15 - 45 from seven reproductive health and primary health facilities in Arizona, New Jersey, New Mexico, South Carolina, and Texas in 2016-2017. We used multivariable logistic, multinomial logistic, and linear regression models to examine the associations among DAP scores (range: 0 - 4) and contraceptive use outcomes and identify factors associated with discordance between DAP and use of contraception.

Results

Participants with a greater preference to avoid pregnancy had higher odds of contraceptive use (aOR = 1.63, 95% CI: 1.31, 2.04) and used contraceptives more consistently (aβ = 8.9 percentage points, 95% CI: 5.2, 12.7). Nevertheless, 63% of women with low preference to avoid pregnancy reported using a contraceptive method. Higher preference to avoid pregnancy was not associated with type of contraceptive method used: women with the full range of pregnancy preferences reported using all method types.

Conclusion

When measured using a rigorously developed instrument, pregnancy preferences were associated with contraceptive use and consistency of use. However, our findings challenge assumptions that women with the highest preference against pregnancy use more effective methods and that women who might welcome pregnancy do not use contraception.

Implications

Women's preferences about pregnancy contribute significantly to their use of contraception. However, health care providers and researchers should consider that contraceptive features besides effectiveness in preventing pregnancy shape contraceptive decision-making and use.

Purpose

This study aims to assess the effects of obtaining an abortion versus being denied an abortion on self-esteem and life satisfaction.

Methods

We present the first 2.5 years of a 5-year longitudinal telephone-interview study that follows 956 women who sought an abortion from 30 facilities across the USA. We examine the self-esteem and life satisfaction trajectories of women who sought and received abortions just under the facility's gestational age limit, of women who sought and received abortions in their first trimester of pregnancy, and of women who sought abortions just beyond the facility gestational limit and were denied an abortion. We use adjusted mixed effects linear regression analyses to assess whether the trajectories of women who sought and obtained an abortion differ from those who were denied one.

Results

Women denied an abortion initially reported lower self-esteem and life satisfaction than women who sought and obtained an abortion. For all study groups, except those who obtained first trimester abortions, self-esteem and life satisfaction improved over time. The initially lower levels of self-esteem and life satisfaction among women denied an abortion improved more rapidly reaching similar levels as those obtaining abortions at 6 months to one year after abortion seeking. For women obtaining first trimester abortions, initially higher levels of life satisfaction remained steady over time.

Conclusions

There is no evidence that abortion harms women's self-esteem or life satisfaction in the short term.