Table 2

The SABAS and CUSS

M/Med/SD/range
(score 1–5)
Agree
(score 3–5) n (%)
Disagree (score 1–2) n (%)
Items: SABAS
1The health of a woman who has an abortion is never as good as it was before the abortion (n=74).2.3/2/1.2/426 (35)48 (65)
2A woman who has had an abortion might encourage other women to get abortions (n=74).2.4/2/1.3/426 (35)48 (65)
3Once a woman has one abortion, she will make it a habit (n=74).2.2/2/1.2/422 (30)52 (70)
4A woman who has an abortion is committing a sin (n=74).2.2/2/1.4/420 (27)54 (73)
5A woman who has an abortion brings shame to her family (n=74).2/2/1.1/416 (22)58 (78)
6A woman who has had an abortion brings shame to her community (n=74).1.9/2/1.1/413 (18)61 (82)
7A woman who has had an abortion cannot be trusted (n=74).1.7/1/1/412 (16)62 (84)
8A woman who has had an abortion is a bad mother (n=73).1.6/1/.9/47 (10)66 (90)
9A woman who has an abortion should be treated the same as everyone else* (n=74).1.2/1/.5/368 (92)6 (8)
10A man should not marry a woman who has had an abortion because she may not be able to bear children (n=74).1.5/1/.8/45 (7)69 (93)
11I would tease a woman who has had an abortion so that she will be ashamed of her decision (n=74).1.4/1/.7/44 (5)70 (95)
12I would try to disgrace a woman in my community if I found out she would had an abortion (n=74).1.6/1/.9/44 (5)70 (95)
13I would stop being friends with someone if I found out that she had had an abortion (n=73).1.4/1/.7/43 (4)70 (96)
14A woman who has had an abortion should be prohibited from going to religious services (n=74).1.2/1/.5/22 (3)72 (97)
15I would point my fingers at a woman who had an abortion so that other people would know what she has done (n=74).1.3/1/.5/21 (1)73 (99)
16If a man has sex with a woman who has had an abortion, he will become infected with a disease (n=74).1.4/1/.8/47 (9)67 (91)
17A woman who has an abortion can make other people fall ill or get sick (n=74).1.4/1/.8/46 (8)68 (92)
18A woman who has an abortion should be isolated from other people in the community for at least 1 month after having an abortion (n=74).1.3/1/.8/44 (5)70 (95)
Items: CUSS
19A young girl who uses a contraceptive method will encourage other girls to lead a promiscuous lifestyle (n=44).2.4/2/1.3/417 (39)27 (61)
20A married woman is more deserving of a contraceptive method than an unmarried woman (n=44).2.4/2/1.5/416 (36)28 (64)
21A young girl who uses a contraceptive method is promiscuous (sexually immoral, likes to have many sexual relationships) (n=44).2.2/2/1.2/414 (32)30 (68)
22A young girl cannot decide for herself whether to use a contraceptive method (n=44).2.4/2/1.3/414 (32)30 (68)
23A young girl who carries condoms is likely to have many sexual partners (n=44).2.1/2/1.3/412 (27)32 (73)
24A young girl who uses contraceptives will have problems when she decides to get pregnant (n=44).1.9/2/.9/39 (20)35 (80)
25A young girl should not insist on using a condom; the man should decide whether to use a condom or not. (n=44)1.4/1/.9/43 (7)41 (93)
  • Stigmatising attitudes towards women associated with abortion and contraceptive use among PAC providers (n=74; n=44) in a low-resource setting in Kenya.

  • *This item was reversed coded so that ‘agree’=1–2 and ‘disagree’=3–5; accordingly, ‘agree’ in this item was considered a non-stigmatising attitude.

  • CUSS,  Contraceptive Use Stigma Scale;  PAC,  postabortion care; SABAS,  Stigmatising Attitudes, Beliefs and Actions Scale.