Resumen : Sociodemographic, reproductive, and medical characteristics of 620 women admitted to an obstetric hospital in Florianopolis between July 1993 and June 1994 for complications of abortion were studied. Interviews with the women and hospital records were the main sources of data. 141 of the abortions were classified as definitely induced, 313 as probably induced, and 166 as spontaneous. Women with definitely induced abortions tended to be young and unmarried. 54% did not use contraception at the time of conception, 21% used pills, and 6% used condoms. About half of the 141 women reported using misoprostol, alone or in combination with other methods. 6% reported inducing the abortion by inserting foreign objects or by instilling chemical substances. 71 women using misoprostol reported dosages ranging from 400 to 5600 mcg. The clinical characteristics of the women hospitalized for induced abortion suggest that the frequency of severe complications is lower than previously reported. 33 had signs of infection and 18 had serious hemorrhage at admission. 76 were treated with antibiotics. 138 of the 141 women underwent dilatation and curettage. The results refer only to women seeking treatment in a public hospital and cannot be generalized to the total population. It is also probable that some induced abortions were misclassified.
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