Feasibility of a text message intervention for follow-up after medication abortion
Abortion
Awarded 2020
Complex Family Planning Fellowship Research
Cara Delaney, MD, MPH
Boston Medical Center
$14,185

Our aim is to evaluate a home follow-up alternative after medication abortion using low sensitivity pregnancy testing and a texted survey to assess abortion completion. We plan to enroll a prospective cohort of participants seeking medication abortion following the remote follow-up plan and compare it to a historical cohort of patients from the previous year who followed using the standard of care at the time, in-clinic follow-up. This option holds the potential for direct benefit to participants during the COVID-19 pandemic to avoid unneeded visits to healthcare facilities, allows for a shorter time for follow-up than the home follow-up protocol which is a follow-up assessment by phone and a high sensitivity pregnancy test. It also provides another way of telehealth communication for patients. Text messaging as follow-up after medication abortion in the US has not been evaluated. We hope to not only improve follow-up rates with this type of communication, but also to reduce the burdens of clinic visits and to provide another avenue for patients to follow-up after a medication abortion.