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Feasibility of telephone follow-up after medical
abortion.
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| Article Type: | Brief article |
| Subject: |
Abortion, Therapeutic
(Patient outcomes) Abortion, Therapeutic (Research) Telemedicine (Usage) Telemedicine (Research) |
| Pub Date: | 05/01/2010 |
| Publication: | Name: Reproductive Health Matters Publisher: Reproductive Health Matters Audience: General Format: Magazine/Journal Subject: Family and marriage; Health; Women's issues/gender studies Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2010 Reproductive Health Matters ISSN: 0968-8080 |
| Issue: | Date: May, 2010 Source Volume: 18 Source Issue: 35 |
| Topic: | Event Code: 310 Science & research |
| Geographic: | Geographic Scope: United States Geographic Code: 1USA United States |
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| Accession Number: | 236247754 |
| Full Text: |
This study assessed the feasibility of using telephone calls
combined with high-sensitivity urine pregnancy testing for follow-up of
women after medical abortion, with the aim of removing the need to
return to the clinic for examination, unless signs of pregnancy were
still present. 139 women in Pittsburgh, US, seeking an abortion up to
nine weeks of pregnancy were enrolled to receive mifepristone 200 mg
orally and misoprostol 800 mcg vaginally or buccally, as per their
choice. They were initially contacted by phone one week after
mifepristone administration and interviewed using a standardised
questionnaire. If the woman or the clinician thought the pregnancy might
be ongoing, she was asked to return for a scan. Otherwise, the woman did
a home urine pregnancy test 30 days after taking the mifepristone and
was phoned within three days of the test. Those with positive pregnancy
tests were also asked to return for a scan. Those with negative tests
required no further follow-up. Six women presented before the initial
phone call was due with concerns about ongoing pregnancy. The other 133
women were all contacted initially by phone one week after taking the
pills. Eight of these were asked to return for evaluation and all did
so. Of the remaining 125 women, eight presented for an interim visit
prior to the 30-days call. Of the 117 women phoned a second time after
the pregnancy test, 116 were reached. Of these, 27 had a positive
pregnancy test and two had inconclusive results, and all 29 were asked
to return for follow-up. Three of the 29 did not return for follow-up;
of the 26 who did, none had a gestational sac or a continuing pregnancy.
Complete follow-up was achieved with 135 of the 139 women (97.1%), of
whom 87 (63%) had no need to return to the clinic and three were lost to
follow-up. This method seems to be a feasible alternative to requiring
routine return to the clinic for follow-up after medical abortion. (1) (1.) Perriera LK, Reeves MF, Chen BA, et al. Feasibility of telephone follow-up after medical abortion. Contraception 2010;81:143-49. |
| Gale Copyright: | Copyright 2010 Gale, Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. |
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