A Survey on Acquired Knowledge of the Medical Students to Handle Illegal Abortion Cases: a Case Study of Iran

Abstract

Unsafe abortion, which is defined as the termination of an unwanted pregnancy by a person lacking the necessary skills or in an environment lacking minimal medical standards, could cause a high percentage of pregnancy-related deaths. Since day by days numbers of unsafe abortions indeveloping countries are increasing, this study planned to know the awareness among 240 medical students about illegal abortion by conducting a descriptive study. Volunteer students were randomly selected, then a questionnaire containing demographic information (age, sex, educational level, marital status) and 12 questions related to awareness on illegal abortion were distributed among them to provide personal responses of the questions. Finaly, the score of 11 and above was given to the appropriate knowledge. Total 82.7% of the students were scored over 11 revealed a good knowledge regarding the illegal abortion in the country. Also, 55% of students recommended for considering the abortion as illegal to prevent complications caused by illegal abortions. Our results indicated that there were a good awareness and adequate knowledge among students of medicine about illegal abortion and its complications.