Unintended pregnancy in Ukraine: Contraceptive knowledge and practice among women, who opted for induced abortion

Study objective: To assess the knowledge and previous usage of contraceptive methods among women with unintended pregnancies, who opted for induced abortion in Ukraine. Additionally, evaluate the impact of woman's age and marital status on her contraceptive choice. Participants/Methods: Women, with unintended pregnancy (N=200), which opted for induced abortion in Kyiv (Ukraine) district hospital. Study participants completed the questionnaire between March-May 2009, during face-to- face interviews. Descriptive statistics and chi-square procedure was performed to study the correlation between contraceptive knowledge/previous contraceptive practice and age/marital status. Principle Findings: Of 200 participants, 41% listed two methods of contraception, and24% listed three methods. The youngest participants (15-24 years old) had less knowledge about contraception, 44.7% mentioned only one method (chisq. =21.43, p-value=0.04). Married women are acquainted with more methods; they indicated three methods (30.4%) in comparison with other groups (chisq. =28.9, p-value=0.038). The traditional contraceptive methods, such coitus interruptus (55.5%) and natural methods (34.5%) were most commonly used in the past. The youngest participants favored traditional methods (79%), whereas senior women preferred effective methods (48%). Conclusion and Implications : Woman's age appeared to play crucial role in the level of knowledge and previous usage of contraception. Public health campaigns aimed at increasing knowledge about effective contraceptives are urgently needed. Special attention should be given to young adults, who appeared to be most at risk for unintended pregnancy. Developing countries such as Ukraine need more efficient training and awareness programs for women education on contraceptive methodologies, empowering them to make decisions.