Knowledge, Attitude and Practice towards Induced Abortion among Women of Kazakhstan: cross-sectional study

Abstract Background. Unsafe abortion accounts for a significant proportion of maternal deaths. Different studies show that the knowledge, attitude and practice in relation to induced abortion are limited among women. Therefore, determining the level of knowledge attitude and practice among women towards induced abortion is important Objective to assess knowledge, attitude and practice towards to induced abortion among women of Kazakhstan. Methods The cross-sectional study was employed among 240 women from different region of Kazakhstan from Mart to August, 2023. We used a convenience sampling for this study. The questionnaire was developed independently in accordance with international findings and experience and underwent a validation process. SPSS version 20.0 was used for data analysis. Quantitative and qualitative variables are presented as frequency/percentage. A logistic regression model was fitted to identify factors associated with history of abortion. Statistical significance was defined at a p-value < 0.05 and a corresponding 95% confidence interval. Result In this study, the majority of the survey participants (74.6%) are familiar with abortion methods. two-thirds (61.7%) of women had medium level of knowledge. Only 66 (27.5%) of respondent had positive attitude towards induced abortion. General practice to abortion of half study population was revealed as medium (49.3%). 67 (27.9%) participants had history of abortion. Living in Southern Kazakhstan [AOR=0.786: 95%CI (0.276, 2.242)], in Eastern Kazakhstan [AOR=0.635: 95%CI (0.216, 1.870)], and in the Central and Northern regions [AOR=0.287: 95%CI (0.106-0.779)], a history of 3-4 pregnancies [AOR=10.16: 95%CI (1.879, 54.89), five or more pregnancies [AOR=9.911: 95%CI (1.557, 63.07)], and one to two pregnancies [AOR=1.414: 95%CI (0.289, 6.905)] were associated with history of abortion. Conclusions. Participants’ knowledge had medium level and majority of the subjects had negative attitudes regarding induced abortion. Half of study participants had medium level towards the practice for induced abortion. Factors associated with history of induced abortion were region of living, quantity of pregnancy