Influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on births and induced abortions in Southern Sweden : A register-based study
(2024) In BMJ Sexual and Reproductive Health p.1-9- Abstract
Background: Pandemics are linked with declining birth rates, but little is known about how the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced childbearing decisions. We aimed to investigate the associations between the COVID-19 pandemic and reproductive decisions, specifically to identify potential changes in the frequency of deliveries and induced abortions in Skåne, Sweden. Methods: Using the Skåne Healthcare Register, we identified women aged 15-45 years who had at least one pregnancy-related care visit registered between 1 January 2013 and 11 November 11 2021. Deliveries and induced abortions were identified, and changes in weekly delivery and abortion counts were assessed using an interrupted time series design. Relative risks (RRs) and 95%... (More)
Background: Pandemics are linked with declining birth rates, but little is known about how the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced childbearing decisions. We aimed to investigate the associations between the COVID-19 pandemic and reproductive decisions, specifically to identify potential changes in the frequency of deliveries and induced abortions in Skåne, Sweden. Methods: Using the Skåne Healthcare Register, we identified women aged 15-45 years who had at least one pregnancy-related care visit registered between 1 January 2013 and 11 November 11 2021. Deliveries and induced abortions were identified, and changes in weekly delivery and abortion counts were assessed using an interrupted time series design. Relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated from a Poisson regression model. Results: During the study period we identified 129 131 deliveries and 38 591 abortions. Compared with the counterfactual (exposed interval assuming COVID-19 had not occurred), pandemic exposure was associated with fewer deliveries (RR 0.93; 95% CI 0.89 to 0.98). For abortions, pandemic exposure appeared to be associated with fewer abortions (RR 0.95; 95% CI 0.90 to 1.00); however, age-related differences were found. Among women aged 25 years and over, pandemic exposure was more strongly associated with fewer abortions. Contrastingly, among women aged under 25 years, abortions appeared to increase. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic seemed to have contributed to a decline in births in Southern Sweden. During the same period, abortions declined in women in the older age range, but contrastingly increased among younger women.
(Less)
- author
- Thacher, Jesse D. LU ; Vilhelmsson, Andreas LU ; Blomberg, Annelise J. LU ; Rylander, Lars LU ; Jöud, Anna LU ; Schmidt, Lone ; Hougaard, Charlotte Ørsted ; Elmerstig, Eva ; Vassard, Ditte and Mattsson, Kristina LU
- organization
-
- Genetic Occupational and Environmental Medicine (research group)
- Planetary Health (research group)
- EpiHealth: Epidemiology for Health
- Environmental Epidemiology (research group)
- Epidemiology (research group)
- Metalund
- Applied epidemiology (research group)
- Perinatal and cardiovascular epidemiology (research group)
- publishing date
- 2024
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- epub
- subject
- keywords
- abortion, induced, COVID-19, epidemiology, Reproductive Behavior
- in
- BMJ Sexual and Reproductive Health
- pages
- 1 - 9
- publisher
- BMJ Publishing Group
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85195867369
- pmid:38834283
- ISSN
- 2515-1991
- DOI
- 10.1136/bmjsrh-2023-202162
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- additional info
- Publisher Copyright: © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024.
- id
- 75a962ca-b4f1-4995-8bfa-ce1af240d0c9
- date added to LUP
- 2024-06-26 18:24:30
- date last changed
- 2024-06-28 03:03:29
@article{75a962ca-b4f1-4995-8bfa-ce1af240d0c9, abstract = {{<p>Background: Pandemics are linked with declining birth rates, but little is known about how the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced childbearing decisions. We aimed to investigate the associations between the COVID-19 pandemic and reproductive decisions, specifically to identify potential changes in the frequency of deliveries and induced abortions in Skåne, Sweden. Methods: Using the Skåne Healthcare Register, we identified women aged 15-45 years who had at least one pregnancy-related care visit registered between 1 January 2013 and 11 November 11 2021. Deliveries and induced abortions were identified, and changes in weekly delivery and abortion counts were assessed using an interrupted time series design. Relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated from a Poisson regression model. Results: During the study period we identified 129 131 deliveries and 38 591 abortions. Compared with the counterfactual (exposed interval assuming COVID-19 had not occurred), pandemic exposure was associated with fewer deliveries (RR 0.93; 95% CI 0.89 to 0.98). For abortions, pandemic exposure appeared to be associated with fewer abortions (RR 0.95; 95% CI 0.90 to 1.00); however, age-related differences were found. Among women aged 25 years and over, pandemic exposure was more strongly associated with fewer abortions. Contrastingly, among women aged under 25 years, abortions appeared to increase. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic seemed to have contributed to a decline in births in Southern Sweden. During the same period, abortions declined in women in the older age range, but contrastingly increased among younger women.</p>}}, author = {{Thacher, Jesse D. and Vilhelmsson, Andreas and Blomberg, Annelise J. and Rylander, Lars and Jöud, Anna and Schmidt, Lone and Hougaard, Charlotte Ørsted and Elmerstig, Eva and Vassard, Ditte and Mattsson, Kristina}}, issn = {{2515-1991}}, keywords = {{abortion, induced; COVID-19; epidemiology; Reproductive Behavior}}, language = {{eng}}, pages = {{1--9}}, publisher = {{BMJ Publishing Group}}, series = {{BMJ Sexual and Reproductive Health}}, title = {{Influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on births and induced abortions in Southern Sweden : A register-based study}}, url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjsrh-2023-202162}}, doi = {{10.1136/bmjsrh-2023-202162}}, year = {{2024}}, }