Magnitude and Factors Affecting Unsafe Abortion Among Reproductive-age Women Underwent Post-abortion Care at Public Hospitals in West Arsi Zone of Ethiopia

Background: Unsafe abortion continues to be a serious public health problem worldwide, especially in developing countries it is one of the leading preventable causes of maternal death and disabilities. Evidence-based programs have paramount importance in women's health improvement. However, only limited information about unsafe abortion and its determinants are available in the study setting. We aimed to assess magnitude and factors of unsafe abortion among reproductive-age women who underwent post-abortion care at Public Hospitals in West Arsi Zone of Ethiopia, 2018. A cross-sectional study employed to involve 399 women. Data collected by using an interviewer-applied questionnaire then entered into EPI-Info and exported to SPSS software for analysis. Bivariate and multivariate regression analysis was done to get OR and its 95% CI at p < 0.05. Response rate was 99 percent. Unsafe abortion practice was 41 percent. Key risk factors including younger age group 16-19 ((adjusted OR (95% CI); 9.23 (2.1, 40.17)), unplanned pregnancy ((adjusted OR (95% CI); 3.26 (1.39, 7.69)), increase the risk while having had previous experience of abortion ((adjusted OR (95% CI); 0.32 (0.13, 0.81)) and low monthly family income ((adjusted OR (95% CI); 0.20 (0.07, 0.60)) were the preventives of unsafe abortion. This study showed unsafe abortion is yet women’s health challenge. Being in a younger age group, and those with unplanned pregnancy, were among the key risky while those who have repeated experiences of abortion previously, and those who are from a lower monthly income group were less likely do unsafe abortion in the study setting. Health programmers and implementers expected to address them and a more explorative study recommended.