Verhoogt een abortus het risico op psychische aandoeningen?

Abstract

BACKGROUND Research into potential mental health consequences of abortion yields inconsistent results, and is characterized by methodological limitations. AIM To offer more conclusive insight into women’s mental health after an abortion by taking pre-abortion mental health and confounding covariates into account in a stringent manner. METHOD A prospective longitudinal cohort study, the Dutch Abortion and Mental Health Study (DAMHS), which was designed in a similar way as the large scale Dutch population study into mental health of the Trimbos Institute, the Netherlands Mental Health Survey and Incidence Study-2 (NEMESIS-2), so that women with and without abortion experiences could be compared. RESULTS Women who had an abortion were significantly more likely to have had previous DSM-IV mental disorders. Psychiatric history was associated with women’s experiences of the unwanted pregnancy and abortion, but having an abortion did not increase the risk on post abortion mental disorders. Previous mental disorders predicted post abortion mental disorders, and so did multiple recent life events as well as having an unstable partner relationship. CONCLUSION Women who have had an abortion more often have a history of mental disorders, but there is no evidence that an abortion in itself would increase the risk on mental disorders.