Trabajos Originales Mayor mortalidad materna por aborto en Cuba que en Chile, 2000-2015

Abstract

Background: Maternal death due to unsafe abortion is a severe public health problem; countries with liberal abortion laws would have a lower risk of unsafe abortion and abortion mortality. Cuba has a legislation that does not penalize induced abortion, while in Chile it is illegal in all cases until its recent decriminalization in 3 grounds. Objective: It is postulated that Cuba would have a lower maternal mortality due to abortion than Chile, for which purpose it is proposed to compare the evolution of the maternal mortality by abortion between both countries, in the period 2000-2015. Material and Method: Raw data on deaths associated with abortion and live births are obtained from the vital statistics databases of both countries. The relative chance of death is estimated according to the Odds Ratio (OR) with a 95% confidence interval (95% CI) of the maternal mortality. Results: The maternal death rate associated with abortion was higher in Cuba than in Chile (OR: 1.91, 95% CI: 1.331 to 2.739; p = 0.0004). A downward trend is observed in Cuba and without changes in Chile. Conclusions: Contrary to the postulate based on the different legislations of both countries, in the period 2000-2015, Cuba had a higher maternal mortality associated with abortion than Chile. Possible conditioning factors of the difference found are discussed.