National, sociodemographic and obstetrical characteristics of study population by severity of abortion-related complications
| Total (N=7983) | Mild (N=3693) | Moderate (N=3948) | Potentially life-threatening complications (N=245) | Severe maternal outcomes (N=97) | |
| National | |||||
| Misoprostol country recognised approval†** | |||||
| No | 237 (2.9) | 166 (4.5) | 68 (1.7) | 2 (0.8) | 1 (1) |
| Yes | 7746 (97) | 3527 (95.5) | 3880 (98.3) | 243 (99.2) | 96 (98.9) |
| National guidelines on abortions‡** | |||||
| Post-abortion care (PAC) Only | 1332 (16.7) | 829 (22.5) | 453 (11.5) | 26 (10.6) | 24 (24.7) |
| Both (induced abortion and PAC) | 6651 (83.3) | 2864 (77.6) | 3495 (88.5) | 219 (89.4) | 73 (75.3) |
| Facility | |||||
| Facility type** | |||||
| Primary | 288 (4.3) | 269 (7.4) | 19 (0.7) | 0 | 0 |
| Secondary | 2238 (33.7) | 1086 (29.9) | 1024 (37.9) | 99 (43.4) | 29 (30.9) |
| Tertiary | 4120 (61.9) | 2267 (62.6) | 1659 (61.4) | 129 (56.6) | 65 (69.2) |
| Other referral level | 1337 (16.8) | 71 (1.9) | 1246 (31.6) | 17 (6.9) | 3 (3.1) |
| Location** | |||||
| Urban | 7252 (90.9) | 3224 (87.3) | 3698 (93.7) | 235 (95.9) | 95 (97.9) |
| Peri-urban | 675 (8.5) | 438 (11.9) | 225 (5.7) | 10 (4.1) | 2 (2.1) |
| Rural | 56 (0.7) | 31 (0.8) | 25 (0.6) | 0 | 0 |
| Sociodemographic and obstetrical | |||||
| Age (in years)* | 7963 | ||||
| ≤19 | 964 (12.1) | 500 (13.6) | 429 (10.9) | 24 (9.8) | 11 (11.5) |
| 20–29 | 3720 (46.7) | 1705 (46.3) | 1850 (46.9) | 118 (48.4) | 47 (48.9) |
| ≥30 | 3279 (41.2) | 1476 (40.1) | 1663 (42.2) | 102 (41.8) | 38 (39.6) |
| Marital status* | 7356 | ||||
| Single | 2355 (32) | 1146 (48.7) | 1099 (46.7) | 78 (34.9) | 32 (34.8) |
| Married/cohabitating | 4871 (66.1) | 2211 (64.2) | 2452 (68.2) | 140 (62.8) | 58 (63) |
| Separated/divorced/widowed | 140 (1.9) | 86 (2.5) | 47 (1.3) | 5 (2.2) | 2 (2.2) |
| Education* | 6736 | ||||
| No education | 72 (1.1) | 42 (1.3) | 26 (0.8) | 1 (0.5) | 3 (3.8) |
| Primary | 865 (12.8) | 514 (16.3) | 308 (9.4) | 25 (12.4) | 18 (22.8) |
| Secondary or more | 5799 (86.1) | 2605 (82.4) | 2960 (89.9) | 176 (87.1) | 58 (73.4) |
| Gainful occupation* | 6441 | ||||
| Yes | 2017 (31.3) | 987 (31.8) | 926 (30.2) | 73 (39.3) | 31 (38.3) |
| No | 4424 (68.7) | 2116 (68.2) | 2145 (69.9) | 113 (60.8) | 50 (61.7) |
| Previous pregnancies* | 7944 | ||||
| 1 or more | 5960 (75) | 2771 (75.6) | 2912 (74) | 199 (81.2) | 78 (80.4) |
| 0 | 1984 (24.9) | 896 (24.4) | 1023 (26) | 46 (18.8) | 19 (19.6) |
| Previous abortions (in women reporting previous pregnancies) | 5958 | ||||
| 1 or more | 2451 (41.1) | 1169 (42.2) | 1169 (40.1) | 76 (38.4) | 37 (47.4) |
| 0 | 3507 (58.9) | 1601 (57.8) | 1743 (59.9) | 122 (61.6) | 41 (52.3) |
| Gestational age (in weeks)** | |||||
| <13 | 5886 (73.7) | 2808 (76) | 2856 (72.3) | 159 (64.9) | 63 (64.9) |
| ≥13 | 995 (12.5) | 515 (13.9) | 405 (10.3) | 56 (22.9) | 19 (19.6) |
| Undetermined | 1102 (13.8) | 370 (10) | 687 (17.4) | 30 (12.2) | 15 (15.5) |
| Expulsion of products of conception before arrival to facility** | 7716 | ||||
| Yes | 3061 (39.7) | 1284 (35.7) | 1579 (41.6) | 144 (62.6) | 54 (58.7) |
| No | 4655 (60.3) | 2313 (64.3) | 2218 (58.4) | 86 (37.4) | 38 (41.3) |
*P value<0.05; **p value<0.0001.
†None: El Salvador (although misoprostol is listed in the National List of Essential Medicines) / misoprostol: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Peru / mifepristone: not registered in any of the countries.
‡PAC only: Dominican Republic, El Salvador / Both: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Peru.