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Estimating clandestine abortion with the confidants method--results from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

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  • Rossier, Clémentine
  • Guiella, George
  • Ouédraogo, Abdoulaye
  • Thiéba, Blandine

Abstract

Data on abortion in sub-Saharan Africa are rare and non-representative. This study presents a new method to collect quantitative data on clandestine abortion, the confidants method, applied in 2001 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Preliminary qualitative work showed that individuals are aware of their close friends' induced abortions: women usually talk to their peers about the unintended pregnancy and ask them for help in locating illegal abortion providers. In a survey of 963 women of reproductive age representative of the city of Ouagadougou, we asked respondents to list their close relations, and, for each of them, and for each of the 5 years preceding the survey, whether they had an induced abortion. According to these data, there are 40 induced abortions per 1000 women aged 15-49 in Ouagadougou annually, and 60 per 1000 women aged 15-19. Adverse health consequences followed 60% of the reported induced abortions, and 14% of them received treatment in a hospital. Extrapolating these results to the entire city, we estimate that its hospitals treat about 1000 cases of abortion complications a year. Hospital data indicate that these centers admitted 984 induced abortions (adding all "certainly", "probably" and "possibly" induced abortions in the WHO protocol) in 2001; the age distribution of patients admitted for induced abortion also corresponds to the confidants method's projections ("certainly" induced abortions only). At least two biases could affect the abortion rates estimated by the confidants method, pertaining to the selection of the sample of relations and to the varying number of third parties involved in the abortion process. The confidants method, which is similar in its principle to the sisterhood method used to estimate maternal mortality levels, might generate accurate estimates of illegal abortion in certain contexts if these two biases are controlled for. Further testing is necessary.

Suggested Citation

  • Rossier, Clémentine & Guiella, George & Ouédraogo, Abdoulaye & Thiéba, Blandine, 2006. "Estimating clandestine abortion with the confidants method--results from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(1), pages 254-266, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:62:y:2006:i:1:p:254-266
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Johnson-Hanks, Jennifer, 2002. "The lesser shame: abortion among educated women in southern Cameroon," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 55(8), pages 1337-1349, October.
    2. repec:cai:popine:popu_p1999_54n3_0446 is not listed on IDEAS
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    Cited by:

    1. Rafael Cortez & Diana Bowser & Meaghen Quinlan-Davidson & Haidara Ousmane Diadie, 2015. "Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health in Burkina Faso," World Bank Publications - Reports 21627, The World Bank Group.
    2. Roch Millogo & Clémentine Rossier, 2022. "Fertility Transition in Dakar, Nairobi, and Ouagadougou Since the 1970s: An Identical Reduction at All Ages Through Modern Contraception?," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 41(5), pages 2115-2142, October.
    3. Susheela Singh & Fatima Juarez & Elena Prada & Akinrinola Bankole, 2019. "Estimating Abortion Incidence: Assessment of a Widely Used Indirect Method," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 38(3), pages 429-458, June.
    4. Suzanne O. Bell & Mary E. Fissell, 2021. "A Little Bit Pregnant? Productive Ambiguity and Fertility Research," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 47(2), pages 505-526, June.
    5. Clémentine Rossier, 2007. "Attitudes towards abortion and contraception in rural and urban Burkina Faso," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 17(2), pages 23-58.
    6. Coast, Ernestina & Murray, Susan F., 2016. "“These things are dangerous”: Understanding induced abortion trajectories in urban Zambia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 201-209.
    7. Parmar, Divya & Leone, Tiziana & Coast, Ernestina & Murray, Susan Fairley & Hukin, Eleanor & Vwalika, Bellington, 2017. "Cost of abortions in Zambia: a comparison of safe abortion and post abortion care," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 63643, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    8. Seydou Drabo, 2019. "A Pill in the Lifeworld of Women in Burkina Faso: Can Misoprostol Reframe the Meaning of Abortion," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(22), pages 1-13, November.
    9. Suh, Siri, 2014. "Rewriting abortion: Deploying medical records in jurisdictional negotiation over a forbidden practice in Senegal," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 20-33.

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