Sociodemographic and Access Characteristics of Patients Receiving Medication Abortion in a Primary Care Health System Before and During the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency
| In-Clinic MAB Pre-PHE (n = 137) | TeleMAB during PHE (n = 47) | P-Value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Established Patient at Time of MAB* | 124 (91.2%) | 43 (91.5%) | 1.0 |
| Race | 0.19 | ||
| Asian | 9 (6.6%) | 6 (12.8%) | |
| Black | 52 (37.9%) | 13 (27.7%) | |
| White | 22 (16.1%) | 12 (25.5%) | |
| Other | 50 (36.5%) | 15 (31.9%) | |
| Unknown/Preferred not to Share | 4 (2.9%) | 1 (2.1%) | |
| Ethnicity± | 0.46 | ||
| African American | 16 (11.8%) | 6 (13.9%) | |
| Hispanic | 19 (14.1%) | 6 (13.9%) | |
| Brazilian/Portuguese | 24 (17.8%) | 9 (20.9%) | |
| Haitian | 25 (18.5%) | 3 (6.9%) | |
| Other | 51 (37.8%) | 19 (44.2%) | |
| Primary Language‡ | 0.18 | ||
| English | 110 (80.3%) | 42 (89.4%) | |
| Portuguese | 12 (8.8%) | 3 (6.4%) | |
| Other | 15 (10.9%) | 2 (4.3%) | |
| Form of Payment | 0.95 | ||
| Private Insurance | 24 (17.5%) | 14 (29.8%) | |
| Public Insurance§ | 76 (55.5%) | 33 (70.2%) | |
| Not documented in EMR‖ | 37 (27.0%) | 0 (0%) | |
| Gestational Age in Days at Time of MAB Appointment¶ | 48.1 (28 to 68) | 45.3 (30 to 75) | 0.049# |
| 41 days and under | 32 (23.7%) | 20 (42.6%) | |
| 42 to 56 days | 79 (58.5%) | 20 (42.6%) | |
| 57 to 69 days | 24 (17.8%) | 5 (10.6%) | |
| 70 to 77 days | 0 (0%) | 2 (4.3%) | |
| Completed Abortion** | 130 (94.9%) 95% CI: 89.8%, 97.9% | 42 (89.4%) 95% CI: 76.9%, 96.5% | 0.187 |
↵*1 in-clinic patient missing (n = 136).
↵±Ethnicity was self-reported by patients. “Other” category includes ethnicities such as: Nepali, Moroccan, Nigerian, American, Korean, etc.
↵‡χ2 test compared English and non-English speaking. Other languages included: Spanish, Haitian Creole, Nepali, and Arabic. Patients used phone interpreters, face-to-face interpreters, or spoke English during their visits.
↵§Includes payment by public insurance, grant, or out of pocket.
‖37 visits’ form of payment not documented in EMR due to a technology issue during specific segment of time. Assigned missing in fisher’s exact test.
↵¶2 in-clinic cases missing due to pregnancy of unknown location, medication abortion complete by drop in hcg; n = 135; mean, range, and independent t test for statistical differences reported here.
↵#significant results at P = .05.
↵**Complete abortions without additional doses of medication; no patients lost to follow-up as in-person appointments or phone calls were required to confirm completed abortion.