Nursing, Midwifery and Medical Students’ Attitudes toward Induced Abortion in Manisa, Turkey

Abstract

Introduction: Induced abortion, defined as terminating pregnancy intentionally by medical intervention, has been discussed for centuries due to its medical, religious, moral, sociological and reproductive aspects. Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigates nursing, midwifery and medical students’ attitudes towards induced abortion and the variables affecting these attitudes. Materials and Methods: The study sample included 180 students. All participants have to go through from three different questionnaire sets: first one is based on socio-demographic aspects with 9 questions; second one is related to inventory attitude questionnaire towards abortion with 12 questions and finally the third questionnaire is on knowledge of abortion with 14 questions. Now all the data are calculated statistically with calculation number distribution, chi square test and logistic regression. Results: The students did not have a negative attitude towards induced abortion. They even had a positive attitude towards induced abortion in cases of medical or social necessity. Perceived religiousness had a negative effect on attitudes towards induced abortion, and increased knowledge about abortion and culture had a positive effect on attitudes towards abortion. Logistic regression analyses showed that the variable significantly correlating with the highest number of statements about attitudes was religiosity. Conclusions:  It is possible to say that students with future health professionals generally have supportive attitudes towards induced abortion.