Knowledge, attitudes, and practice of abortion among women and doctors in Armenia.

OBJECTIVE

To assess knowledge and attitudes towards abortion among women and obstetricians/gynaecologists in Armenia, in order to facilitate the introduction of medical abortion.

METHODS

Ninety-nine doctors and 400 women in three cities in Armenia were purposively selected to participate in face-to-face interviews using structured survey instruments.

RESULTS

Most women knew that abortion is legal under any (31%) or certain (50%) circumstances. The majority of women had heard of medical abortion, but had superficial or incorrect knowledge of the method. Thirty percent of women expressed a preference for medical abortion over surgical abortion. Despite the fact that the medications are not readily available in Armenia, nearly one out of three doctors reported having experience in using misoprostol or mifepristone + misoprostol to terminate pregnancies. Doctors not providing medical abortion cited concerns about the method's efficacy and safety, or felt that they did not have enough information. One-third of doctors were very interested in receiving training on medical abortion methods.

CONCLUSIONS

Both doctors and women in Armenia are interested in medical abortion as an alternative to surgical abortion. Efforts should focus on informing women about the legality of abortion and the details of the medical abortion procedure, and on training doctors in this new method.