Use of an at‐Home Multilevel Pregnancy Test and an Automated Call‐in System to Follow‐up the Outcome of Medical Abortion
- Published
- September 16th, 2018
- Type
- Publication
- Topic
- Medication Abortion
- Authors
- Anger H, Dabash R, Peña M, Coutiño D, Bousiéguez M, Sanhueza P, Winikoff B
Gynecology & Obstetrics; 16 September 2018; https://doi.org/10.1002/ijgo.12679
Objective: To assess the feasibility of using an at‐home multilevel pregnancy test (MLPT) and interactive voice response (IVR) call‐in system for remote follow‐up of medical abortion.
Methods: A prospective pilot study was conducted among women who had a medical abortion at up to 70 days at a clinic in Mexico City, Mexico, between June 1, 2015, and January 30, 2016. Participants took an MLPT at the initial clinic visit and another MLPT at home 2 weeks later. They were requested to report their MLPT results via the IVR system and attend the clinic for follow‐up evaluation.
Results: Of 200 women considered for inclusion, 163 (81.5%) were included in the analysis. Only 10 (6.6%) of the 152 women who had a medical abortion on or before 63 days of pregnancy reported MLPT results that required clinical evaluation to confirm no ongoing pregnancy. The remaining 142 (93.4%) women in this group reported MLPT results that ruled out ongoing pregnancy (confirmed at clinical evaluation). Reported MLPT results ruled out ongoing pregnancy among the 11 women who had a medical abortion after 63 days; however, 1 (9%) had an ongoing pregnancy at clinical evaluation.
Conclusion: Use of MLPTs and the IVR system provided a streamlined approach to follow‐up after medical abortion.