Ninth International Conference on Health, Wellness & Society

Abstract

There is sustained interest and research into abortion stigma from a sociological perspective. AIM: To systematically identify and psychometrically assess measures of abortion stigma. We systematically searched databases PsycINFO, PsycTEST, Scopus, ScienceDirect, Medline, PsycArticles, PubMed, and Web of Science using terms ‘(abortion OR pregnancy termination OR Termination of pregnancy) AND stigma AND measurement’. The review was preregistered with PROSPERO (ID#127339) and adhered to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines (Moher et al., 2015). To assess the psychometric properties of included measures, the COSMIN methodological guidelines for systematic reviews (Prinsen et al., 2018) was used. Author SR screened titles, abstracts, and whole text for those reporting the development, testing, or outcomes of an instrument measuring abortion stigma. Data was extracted by SR and checked for accuracy by a second reviewer (HD). Discrepancies were resolved by discussion. RESULTS: Of 3484 articles identified, 58 were retained and 10 abortion stigma measures identified. Findings indicate measures vary in quality, with those of highest quality most widely used. Measures assess individual and community level stigma for abortion procurers, providers, and the public in Africa, Mexico, and USA. Validated measures of organisational, structural, and framing discourse levels of abortion stigma are scarce, although their presence in the abortion context has been investigated. Several validated abortion stigma measures were identified. Gaps in the measurement of abortion stigma reflect gaps in the research, such as the limited geographical range and limited measurement of higher-level abortion stigma.