Declining induced abortion rate in Finland: data quality of the Finnish abortion register.

BACKGROUND

Induced abortion rates have declined in Finland since 1973. A possible explanation offered has been that of deteriorating data collection.

METHODS

To assess the completeness of the Register, we compared the information from a consecutive sample of hospital records (N = 482) to the Finnish Abortion Register in 18 hospitals in three counties. A smaller consecutive sample (N = 345) was collected from the same hospitals to assess the validity of the Register information.

RESULTS

Only five abortions (1 percent) found in the hospitals were not reported in the Abortion Register. A total of 95 percent of all the length of pregnancy (definition problems), the classification of the abortion procedure, and social class (out-of-date classifications). Furthermore, early complications were poorly reported.

CONCLUSIONS

The data from the Finnish Abortion Register are a reliable source for monitoring trends in the abortion rate and its variation by subgroups, but are an unreliable source for the study of the medical aspects of induced abortion.