Skip to main content

Study Looks at Abortion Rates With No-Test Telehealth Screening, Meds Mailing

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on July 8, 2024.

By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, July 8, 2024 -- Access to medication abortion using history-based (no-test) eligibility assessment, including through telehealth, and mailing of mifepristone lead to similar rates of complete abortion as in-person care with ultrasonography, according to a study published online June 24 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Lauren J. Ralph, Ph.D., M.P.H., from the University of California in San Francisco, and colleagues examined whether medication abortion with no-test eligibility assessment and mailing of medications is as effective as in-person care with ultrasonography in a prospective, observational study with a noninferiority analysis. Four abortion-providing organizations in Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, Virginia, and Washington were included. The study groups reflected the model of care selected by patients and clinicians and included no-test (telehealth) eligibility assessment and medication mailing (no test + mail), no-test eligibility assessment and medication pickup (no-test + pickup), and in-person with ultrasonography (228, 119, and 238 patients, respectively).

Outcome data were available for 91.8 percent of participants. The researchers found that overall effectiveness was 94.4 and 93.3 percent in the no-test + mail group and the in-person group with ultrasonography, respectively, in adjusted models, meeting the prespecified 5 percent noninferiority margin. Serious adverse events included overnight hospitalization, blood transfusion, and emergency surgery and were reported by 1.1 percent of the participants.

"Expansion of telehealth and no-test or history-based models offers a safe and effective, as well as urgently needed, way to overcome at least some of the logistical and geographic barriers to accessing abortion," the authors write.

Two authors disclosed ties to Planned Parenthood.

Abstract/Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Posted July 2024

Read this next

Dobbs Decision Has Negatively Impacted Access to OB/GYN Practitioners

FRIDAY, March 14, 2025 -- The Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization (Dobbs) decision was associated with a moderate but significant relative reduction in obstetrics and...

States That Adopted Abortion Bans Have Higher Infant Mortality

TUESDAY, Feb. 25, 2025 -- U.S. states that adopted abortion bans have higher-than-expected infant mortality and higher fertility rates than expected, according to two studies...

Thousands of People Are Leaving Abortion-Ban States, Study Shows

FRIDAY, Jan. 10, 2025 -- States with strict abortion bans are losing residents, particularly younger people, which could have long-term economic implications. In the wake of the...

More news resources

Subscribe to our newsletter

Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.