Perceptions and misperceptions of intendedness of pregnancy and the likelihood of pregnancy

The unintended pregnancy rate in the U.S. is high compared to other industrialized counties and there has been little downward movement since the IOM report in 1995. An RDD telephone survey (N=1018) was conducted in a Midwestern state to ascertain adult perceptions of reproductive health issues including unintended pregnancy.

Respondents estimated that 75.8% of pregnancies to teens were unintended. The actual unintended percentage in this group is 81%. Estimates for unmarried adult women were 56.8% compared to the actual 76.7%. Estimates for married adult women were 29.1% compared to the actual 23.0%. (Actual rates include both live births and terminations.) While estimates were close among teens and married women, the public clearly does not recognize the level of unintended pregnancies among unmarried adult women.

21.9% of females and 18.9% of males correctly identified the likelihood of becoming pregnant from one unprotected sexual act. More than 60% of respondents believed there was a 50% or greater chance that a woman would become pregnant from an individual sex act. While respondents overestimated risk from a single sex act, they greatly underestimated a woman's risk of pregnancy, if having unprotected sexual intercourse over a year. 55.6% of women and 56.5% of men accurately responded. 11% of women and 8% of men grossly underestimated the risk at less than 10%.

Discussion will also include respondents' perceptions of responsibility for prevention of unintended pregnancies and perceptions of factors contributing to unintended pregnancy and the implications of these perceptions on programs to reduce unintended pregnancy.