Abstract : In Brazil, induced abortion is a controversial subject and some consider it to be a serious public health problem. There are few data available about its frequency and general characteristics. The difficulty of obtaining reliable information is explained by the illegality of abortion, which inhibits women from talking about it. Most studies are carried out in hospitals and thus identify only those women who have complications. A study was carried out in 1990 regarding the frequency of miscarriage and abortion in a population of female graduate students and employees of a university in the state of Sao Paulo. Data were obtained by mail through pretested questionnaires, 1992 of which were answered by employees and 937 by students anonymously. Significantly more students than employees were less than 25 years old (85% and 13.7%, respectively); fewer students were married or in a common-law union (11% of students vs. 56% of employees) and four times fewer students than employees had never been pregnant (15% vs. 65%). 9.7% of the students and 25.4% of the employees had had at least 1 abortion (p < 0.0001). When only ever pregnant women were taken into consideration, 65.9% of the students and 38.2% of the employees had had an abortion (p < 0.0001). In the age group under 24 years, 74% of students had had an abortion compared to 35.7% of employees (p < 0.0001). In contrast, the respective percentages for the age group over 24 years were 56.7% and 38.8% (p < 0.00591). Differences between the two groups both for miscarriage and abortion were maintained when considered by age. Students who were under 25 years of age presented a significantly higher percentage of induced abortion.
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