CHARACTERISTICS OF CASES OF ABORTION ATTENDED AT A UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL

Introduction The study on abortion has the potential to articulate key issues relevant to the field of reproductive health. In Brazil, few population-based studies on abortion characteristics involving representative samples of women. Objective To analyze the clinical profile of cases of abortion among women attending a university hospital. Method Quantitative approach to study in a public University Hospital, which was attended by 100 women admitted with abortion diagnosis in the period from August to November 2015. Results Of the 100 women interviewed the average age was 27.3, minimum of 13 years, SD±6.9. They had schooling up to complete secondary education (49%) did not perform paid work (57%); They were married/cohabitating (75%) of these 60% did not use contraception and 45.4% did not plan the pregnancy. Among unmarried 80% did not plan the pregnancy and 52% did not use contraception. Reported the use of any psychoactive substance (46%), with a prevalence of alcohol use (71.6%). They reported mainly urinary tract infection in the previous pregnancy (25.7%) and current pregnancy (24.4%) among others. Had gestational age ≤12 weeks (81%) of these 33.3% reported previous abortion, 72.8% were first pregnancy. Noteworthy is the number of pregnancies with poor training in the current obstetric history (21.6%). Conclusion: It was evident that the majority of women diagnosed with abortion, and other characteristics did not use contraceptive methods, but reported not want to get pregnant, implying the need for reproductive health education activities particularly in primary health care.