Table 1

Characteristics of Muslim women having abortions: N = 53.

CHARACTERISTICSRESPONSES
Mean (SD) age, y29.1 (7.6)
Mean (SD) no. of pregnancies2.5 (1.6)
Mean (SD) no. of births1.0 (0.6)
Mean (SD) previous abortions0.5 (0.8)
Attitude toward abortion: mean (SD) no. of acceptable reasons to be “allowed to have an abortion”*6.4 (3.9)
Mean (SD) score for anxiety about abortion†6.1 (2.7)
Mean (SD) score for depression†5.0 (2.9)
Mean (SD) score for guilt†5.8 (3.2)
Agree or strongly agree that abortion is against Islamic principles,‡ n (%)19.0 (38.8)
Pray daily or almost daily,‡ n (%)20.0 (37.8)

  • ↵* Patients selected reasons from a list of 11 possible choices.

  • ↵† Anxiety, depression, and guilt were scored on a scale of 0 to 10.

  • ↵‡ Not everyone answered the questions about prayer (n = 52) and Islamic principles (n = 49).