STUDY: WOMEN NEED MOREMENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT AFTER ABORTION

SPRINGFIELD, Ill., August 15, 2002 (LSN.ca) - A studypublished in the July issue of the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry reveals

that abortion is associated with psychiatric episodessuffered by women.

By examining Medi-Cal records for 173,000 low-incomeCalifornia women, researchers Priscilla K. Coleman, David C. Reardon, VincentM.

Rue and Jesse Cougle, compared the rate of psychiatricoutpatient treatments for women who had abortions versus those who carried to

term. To control for differences in prior psychologicalhealth, they excluded all women who had any psychiatric care for a year prior

to their pregnancy outcome.

The study found that women were 63 percent more likely toreceive mental health care within 90 days of an abortion compared to

delivery. In addition, significantly higher rates ofsubsequent mental health treatment persisted over the entire four years of data

examined.

Dr. Priscilla Coleman, the study's lead author, said thatthe study design was an improvement over previous studies because it relied

on medical records rather than on surveys of women contactedat an abortion clinic. "Most studies of mental health status after an

abortion rely on small groups of women-usually less than300-and face high drop out rates of 50 percent or more," said Coleman, a

professor at Bowling Green State University in Ohio."By looking at medical claims for a large group of women, we were able tocapture

a more accurate picture of the differences between abortionand childbirth."

(American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 2002, Vol. 72, No. 1,141-152)

See the abstract from the journal on line at:

http://www.apa.org/journals/ort/102ab.html#14