| Background: Induced abortion accounts for 1 in 8
of approximately 600000 maternal deaths that occur
annually worldwide. Induced abortion rate can
be considered as one of the indicators for assessing
availability of the appropriate reproductive
health plans for women and identifying needs for
appropriate related health policies and programs.
Material and Methods: Researchers searched
Pubmed, Google Scholar, CINAHL, Embase,
PsycINFO, Cochrane, Iranian Scientific Information
Database (SID), Iranian biomedical journals
(Iranmedex), and Iranian Research Institute of
Information and Documentation (Irandoc) between
January 2000 and June 2013, which reported induced
abortion. Search terms from two categories
including abortion and termination of pregnancy
were compiled. The search terms were ”induced
abortion” , “illegal abortion”, “illegal abortion”,
“unsafe abortion”, and “criminal abortion”. The
search was also conducted with “induced termination
of pregnancy” ,”illegal termination of
pregnancy”,” illegal termination of pregnancy”,
“unsafe termination of pregnancy” and “ criminal
termination of pregnancy” . Meta-analysis was
carried out by using OpenMeta software. Induced
abortion rates were calculated based on the
random effect model. Results: Overall induced
abortion rate was obtained 58.1 per 1000 women
(95% CI: 55.16-61.04). In continental level, rate of
induced abortion was 14 per 1000 women (95% CI:
11-16). Nation-wide and local rates were obtained
67.27 per 1000 women (95% CI: 60.02-74.23)
and 148.92 (95% CI: 140.06-157.79) respectively.
Discussion and Conclusion: Induced abortion is a
major public health problem that occurs worldwide
whether under the legal restriction or freedom, and
it remains as reproductive health concern globally.
To eliminate the need for induced abortion is at the
core of any effort for preventing this issue. Option
with the highest priority is to prevent unwanted
pregnancies through promoting reproductive
health plans for women of reproductive age. In
case the prevention strategies fail, universal
provision of safe abortion services should be put
in place |