Prevalence and determinants of self‐reported anxiety and stress among women with abortion‐related complications admitted to health facilities in Eastern and Southern Africa: A cross‐sectional survey

Abstract

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of women who were admitted to health facilities with abortion-related complications who reported feeling anxious/stressed during their stay, and to identify sociodemographic, facility, and abortion-related characteristics associated with self-reported experience of anxiety/stress. Methods:We used data from four countries in Eastern and Southern Africa (Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, and Uganda) collected from 2017-2018 as part of the World Health Organization (WHO) Multi-Country Survey on Abortion-related morbidity (MCS-A). Information was extracted from women's medical records and their participation in audio computer-assisted self-interviews (ACASI). Based on a question in the ACASI, "Did you encounter any anxiety or stress during your hospital stay?", the percentage of women who self-reported feeling anxious/stressed during their facility stay

Quality of care for abortion‐related complications: Insights from the WHO Multi‐Country Survey on Abortion‐related Morbidity across 11 African countries

“…Widespread negative experiences of care were found, with 62% of women reporting at least one negative experience of care and 56.5% of women with abortion-related complications reporting that they felt anxious/stressed during their facility stay. 9,10 At first glance, this may appear to conflict with the results reported by Eboigbe et al 11 where women reported high levels of satisfaction with care when looking at different components of care individually (>75% reported being satisfied or very satisfied for four out of the five questions related to satisfaction); however, the results of the composite measure for satisfaction showed that nearly 50% of women reported being less than satisfied with at least one element of their care. 11 Women of low socioeconomic status were found to be a particularly vulnerable group in these papers, with higher odds of reporting negative experiences and high odds of reporting feeling anxious or stressed during their facility stay.…”

“…11 Women of low socioeconomic status were found to be a particularly vulnerable group in these papers, with higher odds of reporting negative experiences and high odds of reporting feeling anxious or stressed during their facility stay. 9,10 As has been outlined by WHO, a multipronged approach including self-care, clinical care, task sharing, human rights, and an enabling legal environment is needed to deliver high-quality abortion and postabortion care including access to family planning, 12 but the evidence presented throughout this Supplement shows that we still have considerable progress to make. Immediate action needs to be taken by healthcare providers and policy makers, and we highlight three key areas here:…”

Incidence of and Experiences with Abortion Attempts in Soweto, South Africa: Respondent-Driven Sampling Study

“…However, it is also possible that asking questions about stigmatizing experiences in any general population-based survey will be subject to underreporting-especially when interviews are administered face-to-face. Using tools such as Audio Computer Assisted Self-Interviewing and other technologies has been shown to reduce underreporting in studies of some stigmatized behaviors and could prove useful in the context of abortion as well [46,47].…”