Abortion requests among adolescents in comparison with young adults in a Swiss region (1990-1998)

Aim: To examine the recent evolution of abortion request rates among adolescents and young adults in the Canton of Vaud (Switzerland) and to describe the circumstances of the abortion requests and sociodemographic characteristics by age subgroups and nationality. Method: Data for women aged 14 to 24 y living in Vaud were selected from the 12 358 abortion requests from residents aged 14- 49 y between 1990 and 1998. Results: Overall, abortion request rates by age were stable over the study period. However, rates for non- Swiss women were two to three times higher than those for Swiss women, at 4.5 [95% confidence interval [CI]: 3. 8- 5. 2] vs 2.4 [95% CI: 2.1- 2.7] per 1000 adolescents below the age of 18, 18.1 [95% CI: 17.2- 18. 9] vs 8.0 [95% CI: 7.1- 8.8] per 1000 women aged 18- 19 and 30.5 [95% CI: 29.1- 32. 0] vs 10.2 [95% CI: 9.6- 10.8] per 1000 women aged 20- 24. The ratio of abortions to live births was greatest for women under 20 y of age, at 1.9, in comparison with the ratio observed among adult women aged 20- 24 (at 0.4). The abortion rate per 1000 conceptions >6 wk remained stable; this rate was 590 per 1000 among 14- 19- y- olds in 1997. Conclusion: The abortion request rate among youths in this Swiss region has not increased between 1990 and 1998. Efforts must be intensified to ensure universal access to family planning services and contraception, especially for young foreign women and adolescents.