Awareness regarding legalization of abortion among female youth attending a teaching hospital in Nepal

Abstract

Background: Abortion is the expulsion of the product of conception before time of fetal viability i.e. 22weeks and weigh less than 500 grams. The aim of this study was to find out the awareness regarding legalization of abortion among female youth.

Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was performed in Gynecological Outpatient Depart­ment of Chitwan Medical College Teaching Hospital. A total of 97 respondents were selected by adopting non-probability consecutive sampling technique. Data was collected by using structured interview schedule. Collected data was analyzed and interpreted through descriptive and inferen­tial statistics.

Results: The findings of this study revealed that the majority (78.4%) of female youth were ad­equately aware about legalization of abortion. There was significant association between place of residence and level of awareness (p=0.002) regarding legalization of abortion among female youth.

Conclusions: It is concluded that considerable percentage of female youth have low awareness regarding legalization of abortion. So, awareness program is needed on legalization of abortion to increase public awareness.