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Simplified medical abortion using a semi‐quantitative pregnancy test for home‐based follow‐up
Author(s) -
Lynd Kelsey,
Blum Jennifer,
Ngoc Nguyen Thi Nhu,
Shochet Tara,
Blumenthal Paul D.,
Winikoff Beverly
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
international journal of gynecology and obstetrics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.895
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1879-3479
pISSN - 0020-7292
DOI - 10.1016/j.ijgo.2012.11.022
Subject(s) - medicine , abortion , medical abortion , test (biology) , pregnancy , pregnancy test , human chorionic gonadotropin , obstetrics , gynecology , misoprostol , paleontology , genetics , hormone , biology
Objective To simplify follow‐up after medical abortion by examining whether women could use a semi‐quantitative pregnancy test at home to screen for ongoing pregnancy. Methods Three hundred women seeking medical abortion at a tertiary hospital in Vietnam participated in the study. Participants used a semi‐quantitative pregnancy test at the hospital to estimate baseline human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) levels and administered another test at home 2 weeks later for comparison. Women interpreted the test result at home and then returned to hospital for follow‐up care. At this visit, self‐assessment was verified. To assess further the feasibility of the test as a follow‐up tool in service delivery, 200 additional women completed a user comprehension survey. Results The tests identified all 11 ongoing pregnancies among study participants (100% sensitivity; 89.7% specificity). Women reported that the test was easy to use (255/292 [87.3%]) and that provider instructions helped them to use the test (291/292 [99.7%]). Conclusion Semi‐quantitative pregnancy tests offer high sensitivity and negative predictive value. If user instructions can be further simplified, the tests could be used in lieu of transvaginal ultrasound and/or serum hCG at clinic‐based follow‐up or by women themselves for home‐based follow‐up. Clinical trials.gov : NCT01150279