Preabortion ultrasound - a patient perspective
Volodymyr Podolskyi1,2,3, Kristina Gemzell-Danielsson1,2, Lena Marions4,5
1Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Summary
Most women seeking telemedicine medical abortion do not require an ultrasound scan. Key reasons include confidence in pregnancy dating, limited resources, and privacy concerns, highlighting a shift in abortion care accessibility.
Area of Science:
- Reproductive Health
- Telemedicine
- Medical Abortion
Background:
- Telemedicine services have expanded access to medical abortion globally.
- Pre-abortion ultrasound scans are a traditional component of abortion care.
- Understanding patient perceptions is crucial for optimizing telemedicine abortion services.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate women's perspectives on the necessity of pre-abortion ultrasound scans within telemedicine medical abortion services.
- To identify the primary reasons women choose not to undergo pre-abortion ultrasounds when accessing medical abortion via telemedicine.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of 62,641 requests for medical abortion via www.womenonweb.org (January 2019 - October 2020).
- Survey data collected on women's reasons for having or not having a pre-abortion ultrasound scan.
- Focus on 59,648 women who requested medical abortion and provided reasons for their ultrasound decisions.
Main Results:
- Over 76% (45,653/59,648) of women did not have a pre-abortion ultrasound scan.
- Primary reasons cited: confidence in pregnancy dating (31.7%), lack of resources (30.8%), and privacy concerns (18.8%).
- High rates of foregoing scans observed in countries including Thailand, Poland, Northern Ireland, Mexico, and South Korea.
Conclusions:
- A significant majority of women utilizing telemedicine for medical abortion do not undergo pre-abortion ultrasound scans.
- Women's perceived necessity, resource availability, and privacy considerations are key factors influencing this trend.
- Findings suggest a potential shift in standard practices for medical abortion care facilitated by telemedicine.
Keywords:
Medical abortionfirst trimestermifepristonemisoprostolself-managementtelemedicineultrasoundMore Related Videos
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