SELF- MEDICATION ABORTION PRACTICE AND ITS ASSOCIATED FACTORS AMONG PREGNANT WOMEN ATTENDING ABORTION SERVICE AT ASELLA TOWN PUBLIC HEALTH FACILITIES, OROMIA REGIONAL STATE, ASELLA, ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Abstract Background: When a woman, her husband, a family member, or a friend brings an abortion pill over-the-counter without a prescription, medical supervision, or instruction, it is referred to as "self-medication." Self-administered medication abortion pill by an unskilled person is considered to be unsafe abortion by World Health Organization. Even though many studies were conducted on unsafe abortion in Ethiopia, few studies have explored about unsupervised self￾intake of medical abortion pills. Objective: To assess Self- Medication Abortion Practice and its Associated Factors among Pregnant Women Attending Abortion Service at Asella Town Public Health Facilities, Oromia Regional state, Asella, Ethiopia Methods: Institution-based mixed method approach with sequential explanatory study design was employed in Asella town public health facilities. The quantitative part was conducted among 403 Pregnant Women. Random sampling technique with structured interviewer administered questionnaire was used. Data were entered into Epi data and cleaned using frequency distribution and cross- tabulation. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 25 software packages. The key informant IDI was transcribed and translated manually. Translated data was coded and categorized and different ideas in the text were merged in their categories. Results: Out of 403 respondents, 97 (24.1%) were terminate their pregnancy by self-medication abortion practice. Predictors that were significantly associated with self-medication abortion practice at P-value <0.05 and P-value< 0.001 were private employee (AOR=7.28, 95% CI [1.92- 32.21]), secondary education(AOR=0.25, 95% CI [0.07-0.84]), higher education (AOR=0.08, 95% CI [0.02-0.34]), average monthly income of household , (AOR=0.24, 95% CI[0.076, 0.78]), and unplanned(AOR=11.71, 95% CI [4.39, 31.21]). Conclusion: The prevalence of self-medication abortion was significant in the study area. This significant increase was reasoned out by the qualitative study as unwanted pregnancy, financial constraints, and privacy concern. The predictors of self-medication abortion practice among the study population were private employee, education, household’s average monthly income, and having unplanned pregnancy in the current particular study. Strict control and surveillance on abortion pills as over-the-counter and further research is necessary to explore additional reasons of self-medication abortion practice in diverse healthcare settings. Keywords: Self-Medication, Practice, Unsupervised medication abortion