Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Apr 15, 2024
Open Peer Review Period: Apr 18, 2024 - Jun 13, 2024
Date Accepted: Oct 28, 2024
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Themes in Abortion Forum Discussions in a Restrictive Access Context: Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis
ABSTRACT
Background:
Abortion is one of the most common procedures worldwide. Despite this, access to abortion on demand is restricted in many countries, including Poland. As a result, many women undergo the procedure without medical supervision, exposing themselves to potential health consequences.
Objective:
The study aimed to qualitatively identify the themes present in abortion forums to analyze the problems faced by women. The forums were then quantitatively analyzed to determine which issues are potentially the most prevalent.
Methods:
The most popular forums on abortion were determined. An initial pilot study was conducted for qualitative analysis, followed by a manual quantitative investigation.
Results:
Analyzing 13,397 responses from 370 threads on four forums revealed "Abortion Process Progression" as the most discussed theme, signaling a high demand for information and support. "Emotional and Psychological Aspects" and "Medical and Pharmacological Aspects" were also significant, indicating a need for holistic care.
Conclusions:
This study highlights the critical need for information and support for women navigating abortion, particularly where access is restricted. It calls for addressing multifaceted challenges and promoting policy changes and support networks to enhance women's health and rights in abortion contexts. Further research is encouraged to refine support strategies.
Citation
Request queued. Please wait while the file is being generated. It may take some time.
Copyright
© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.