Adolescent abortion in 11 high‐income countries including Australia: towards the establishment of a minimum data set

Abstract

Objective: A major public health challenge in Australia is the lack of national adolescent abortion data. This descriptive study identifies, collates and describes publicly available adolescent abortion data in high-income countries including Australia, to describe trends over 10 years and provide recommendations for strengthening data collection.Methods: Data were extracted from publicly available government sources that met inclusion criteria. All relevant adolescent abortion data from 2007 to 2017 were extracted from datasets and analysed.Results: Eleven high-income countries were included. Incidence data for the adolescent population were available for all countries and states. Incidence of adolescent abortion over 10 years shows a downward trend in all countries. Gestational age at time of abortion was the second-most available variable. The level and type of data across all countries varied; there was a lack of age range standardisation and aggregation of gestational weeks differed, making comparisons difficult. Conclusion:A minimum data set of standardised abortion information will enable appropriate adolescent abortion policies and services to be developed that are informed by high quality, up-to-date intelligence.Implications for public health: Availability of data affects government's ability to adequately monitor national adolescent health outcomes and plan and evaluate appropriate reproductive health policy and services.

Trends in adolescent alcohol and other risky health‐ and school‐related behaviours and outcomes in Australia

“…Birth rates to teenage mothers are also declining, potentially indicating alternate modes of contraception or other proactive approaches to avoid pregnancy. A decline in adolescent abortion rates was also reported in two Australian states between 2007 and 2017 [38], providing further evidence of a decline in teenage pregnancy rates. Overall, sexual health behaviours showed a negative trend, but sexual health outcomes have improved in terms of birth rates and rates of STIs in recent years (since 2012).…”

Abortion care pathways and service provision for adolescents in high-income countries: A qualitative synthesis of the evidence

“…Abortion remains a relatively common outcome of adolescent pregnancy despite an overall downward trend in abortion incidence among adolescents in HICs [3]. A recent study examined complete adolescent abortion and pregnancy data and found that 17%-69% of pregnancies resulted in abortion [4].…”