Effectiveness and safety of medication abortion via telemedicine versus in-person: a cohort of pregnant people in Colombia

Karen Cárdenas Garzón, Asociación Profamilia
Leonardo Cely-Andrade, Asociación Profamilia
Luis Carlos Enríquez-Santander, Asociación Profamilia
Biani Saavedra-Avendano, Ipas Latin America and the Caribbean
Guillermo A. Ortiz-Avendano, Ipas Latin America and the Caribbean
Lucy A. Betancourt-Rojas, Asociación Profamilia
Jorge G. Guerrero-Conde, Asociación Profamilia

Telemedicine offers a solution to reduce inequalities in health services and barriers to access due to inadequate health infrastructure. Profamilia, a Colombian non-governmental organization, provides medical abortion services to pregnant people under 12 weeks gestation, either in-person or virtually. We conducted a retrospective cohort study with 23,362 pregnant people who requested the service between August 2021 and August 2022 to compare the effectiveness and safety of medical abortion via telemedicine versus in-person. According to the modality of care, there was no difference in the odd of a successful abortion (aOR 1.18; 95%CI 0.87-1.59); this conclusion held true when stratifying the population by weeks of gestation at the start of medication: pregnant people at nine weeks or less (aOR 0.86; 95%CI 0.63-1.17) or more than nine weeks of gestation (aOR 0.87; 95%CI 0.28-2.65). Women who received in-person care mostly reported the expected effects. The results lead to the conclusion that telemedicine is an effective and safe option for medical abortion, as is in-person care.

Keywords: Health and Morbidity, Data and Methods

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