Abstract
BACKGROUND: In China, post-abortion care (PAC) services mainly focus on married couples, such that adolescents and unmarried young womenhave limited access to those services for contraception counseling. The provision of youth-friendly PAC services in public hospitals is a new concept in China. This study examined the magnitude of PAC services utilization as well as factors influencing it's uptake among adolescents and young women in Guangzhou, China. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was performed from 1st March 2020 to 30th September 2020 using anonymous self-administered questionnaire among 688 women aged 15-24 years in Tianhe district, Guangzhou. The Multivariate logistic regression was used to determine factors that were significantly associated with the uptake of PAC services. RESULTS: The magnitude of PAC services utilization was 35.9% among adolescents and young women in Guangzhou, China. Students were 69.0% significantly less likely to use PAC services compared to women who had no job. Immigrants were 59.0% significantly less likely to use PAC services than their native counterparts. Women who had a feeling of stigma were 70.0% significantly less likely to use PAC services compared to those who did not feel stigmatized. CONCLUSIONS: The study highlights the need to strengthen youth-friendly PAC services provision, and emphasizes the importance of education about both family planning and abortion services among disadvantaged sub-groups of women in the study setting.