Article Figures & Data
Figures
- Figure 1.
Interest in providing medication abortion among Minnesota primary care clinicians who do not already provide this care, according to clinicians’ current practice offerings (n = 149). Numbers reported as percentages; P values reported are from χ2 tests.
Tables
- Table 5.
Barriers to Providing Medication Abortion Among Minnesota Clinicians† Interested in Adding This Service to Their Practice (n = 77)
Barrier n (%) Who Endorsed the barrier I don’t know my employer/ health system's policy 28 (36.4%) I don't know enough about the medications to prescribe them 27 (35.1%) I am worried about my ability to safely managing or refer for complications 22 (28.6%) I don't know enough about the medications to educate patients about them 19 (24.7%) I don’t know how to or can’t get access to the medications 17 (22.1%) My employer/ health system has a policy against it 11 (14.3%) My colleagues and/or staff are not supportive 7 (9.1%) Data shown are from an online survey about interest in and barriers to prescribing medication abortion conducted in 2023.
† Clinicians: those with the legal ability to prescribe medication abortion in Minnesota (MD, DO, CNM, PA, NP).
Abbreviations: DO, doctor of osteopathic medicine studies; MD, doctor of medicine; NP, nurse practitioner; PA, physician assistant; CNM, certified nurse midwives.
Characteristic M (S.D.)† or n (%) Age 47.43 (11.43) Years in practice 17.05 (11.43) Gender identity Man, male, masculine 40 (24.7%) Woman, female, feminine 118 (72.8%) Gender nonbinary, gender nonconforming 2 (1.2%) Credentials DO or MD 141 (87%) CNM, NP, PA, MPH 21 (13%) Primary care specialty Family medicine 135 (82.3%) Non-family medicine 27 (16.7%) Practice setting county classification Entirely urban 110 (67.9%) Urban/town/rural mix 29 (17.9%) Entirely rural or town/rural mix 21 (13%) * Participants are Minnesota primary care clinicians with the legal ability to prescribe medication abortion who participated in an online survey about interest in and barriers to prescribing medication abortion in 2023.
† M (S.D.) represents Mean (Standard Deviation).
Abbreviations: DO, doctor of osteopathic medicine studies; MD, doctor of medicine; NP, nurse practitioner; PA, physician assistant; CNM, certified nurse midwives; MPH, master of public health.
- Table 2.
Minnesota Primary Care Clinicians’* Experience with Abortion-Related Care (n = 162)
Question Response Options n (%) Do you currently provide medication abortion in your practice? Yes 13 (8%) I don't, but others in my practice do 20 (12.3%) No 126 (77.8%) I’m not sure 3 (1.9%) Have you provided any prenatal care within the last year? Yes 92 (56.8%) No 70 (43.2%) Have you provided any miscarriage management care within the last year? Yes 85 (52.5%) No 77 (47.5%) Do you currently prescribe mifepristone and/or misoprostol in your practice for other types of care besides abortion (e.g., early pregnancy loss)? Yes 62 (38.3%) I don't, but others in my practice do 28 (17.3%) No 71 (43.8%) I’m not sure 1 (0.6%) Do you feel confident that you have the knowledge to care for patients seeking medication abortion? 1 Very confident 30 (18.5%) 2 Moderately confident 48 (29.6%) 3 Slightly confident 21 (13%) 4 Neither confident nor unconfident 17 (10.5%) 5 Slightly unconfident 11 (6.8%) 6 Moderately unconfident 16 (9.9%) 7 Very unconfident 19 (11.7%) 0 Don’t know 0 (0%) To what extent do you support the use of medication abortion as an abortion method when indicated? 1 Very supportive 112 (69.1%) 2 Moderately supportive 14 (8.6%) 3 Slightly supportive 6 (3.7%) 4 Neither supportive nor unsupportive 2 (1.2%) 5 Slightly unsupportive 0 (0%) 6 Moderately unsupportive 6 (3.7%) 7 Very unsupportive 20 (12.3%) 0 Don’t know 2 (1.2%) Data shown are from an online survey about interest in and barriers to prescribing medication abortion conducted in 2023.
* Clinicians: those with the legal ability to prescribe medication abortion in Minnesota (MD, DO, CNM, PA, NP).
Abbreviations: DO, doctor of osteopathic medicine studies; MD, doctor of medicine; NP, nurse practitioner; PA, physician assistant; CNM, certified nurse midwives.
- Table 3.
Minnesota Primary Care Clinicians’† Knowledge and Attitudes Toward Medication Abortion (n = 162)
Variable Knowledge of medication abortion‡ Attitudes toward medication abortion§ Age Correlation = 0.04 Correlation = −0.01 Years in practice Correlation = 0.07 Correlation = 0.03 Gender identity Man, male, masculine 3.83 (2.23) 2.85*** (2.51) Woman, female, feminine 3.19 (1.95) 1.89*** (1.97) Gender nonbinary, gender nonconforming 2.50 (2.12) 3.50*** (3.54) Practice setting county classification Entirely urban 3.35 (2.01) 1.89* (1.95) Urban/town/rural mix 3.55 (2.25) 3.03* (2.75) Entirely rural or town/rural mix 2.86 (1.68) 2.81* (2.46) Have you provided any prenatal care within the last year? Yes 2.71*** (1.65) 2.18 (2.22) No 4.17*** (2.17) 2.24 (2.21) Have you provided any miscarriage management care within the last year? Yes 2.95* (1.85) 2.15 (2.16) No 3.77* (2.13) 2.27 (2.28) Do you currently prescribe mifepristone and/or misoprostol in your practice for other types of care besides abortion (e.g., early pregnancy loss)? Yes 2.56*** (1.62) 1.92 (1.96) I don't, but others in my practice do 3.04*** (1.80) 2.25 (2.24) No 4.15*** (2.14) 2.46 (2.41) Do you currently provide medication abortion in your practice? Yes 1.92** (1.32) 1.08* (0.28) I don't, but others in my practice do 2.80** (1.54) 1.40* (0.88) No 3.52** (2.07) 2.48* (2.42) Data shown are from an online survey about interest in and barriers to prescribing medication abortion conducted in 2023.
† Clinicians: those with the legal ability to prescribe medication abortion in Minnesota (MD, DO, CNM, PA, NP).
‡ Seven-point scale where 1 is very confident in knowledge, 4 is neither confident nor unconfident in knowledge, and 7 is very unconfident in knowledge. Reported as Mean (Standard Deviation).
§ Seven-point scale where 1 is very supportive, 4 is neither supportive nor unsupportive, and 7 is very unsupportive. Reported as Mean (Standard Deviation).
↵* , P < .05; **, P < .01; ***, P < .001 using a one-way ANOVA (for variables with three categories) or a two-sided t test (for variables with two categories).
Abbreviations: DO, doctor of osteopathic medicine studies; MD, doctor of medicine; NP, nurse practitioner; PA, physician assistant; CNM, certified nurse midwives.
- Table 4.
Interest in Providing Medication Abortion among Minnesota Primary Care Clinicians† Who Do Not Already Provide This Care (n = 149)
Interest in Providing Medication Abortion Mean (Standard Deviation) or n (%) Variable Yes (n = 60) No (n = 68) I need more information to decide (n = 21) Age 44.00* (10.23) 49.63* (11.85) 49.55* (12.00) Years in practice 12.86*** (9.64) 20.04*** (11.79) 19.36*** (12.32) Gender identity Man, male, masculine 7 (17.9%)* 25 (64.1%)* 7 (17.9%)* Woman, female, feminine 53 (49.5%)* 40 (37.4%)* 14 (13.1%)* Gender nonbinary, gender nonconforming 0 (0%)* 1 (100%)* 0 (0%)* Practice setting county classification Entirely urban 53 (53.0%)*** 35 (35.0%)*** 12 (12.0%)*** Urban/town/rural mix 3 (11.1%)*** 20 (74.1%)*** 4 (14.8%)*** Entirely rural or town/rural mix 4 (19.0%)*** 13 (61.9%)*** 4 (19.0%)*** Have you provided any miscarriage management care within the last year? Yes 37 (48.1%) 30 (39.0%) 10 (13.0%) No 23 (31.9%) 38 (52.8%) 11 (15.3%) Do you feel confident that you have the knowledge to care for patients seeking medication abortion?‡ 2.85** (1.70) 3.69** (2.15) 4.48** (2.04) To what extent do you support the use of medication abortion as an abortion method when indicated?§ 1.05*** (0.29) 3.72*** (2.73) 1.33*** (0.80) Data shown are from an online survey about interest in and barriers to prescribing medication abortion conducted in 2023.
† Clinicians: those with the legal ability to prescribe medication abortion in Minnesota (MD, DO, CNM, PA, NP).
‡ Seven-point scale where 1 is very confident in knowledge, 4 is neither confident nor unconfident in knowledge, and 7 is very unconfident in knowledge. Reported as Mean (Standard Deviation).
§ Seven-point scale where 1 is very supportive, 4 is neither supportive nor unsupportive, and 7 is very unsupportive. Reported as Mean (Standard Deviation).
↵*, P < .05; **, P < .01; ***, P < .001 using a one-way ANOVA (for continuous variables) or a χ2 test (for categorical variables).
Abbreviations: DO, doctor of osteopathic medicine studies; MD, doctor of medicine; NP, nurse practitioner; PA, physician assistant; CNM, certified nurse midwives.
