With advance notice about contraceptive methods’ availability and effectiveness, abortion patients have more time and information for decision-making. The researchers did this study to assess the impact of an informational telephone call before the surgical abortion visit on patient contraceptive knowledge.
The present study was a pilot, randomized controlled trial. Before their abortion visit, participants were randomized to the intervention message, a standardized notification about the availability, effectiveness, and safety of LARC and SARC on the day of the abortion, or to the control message, a reiteration of appointment logistics without information about contraception. At the visit, participants completed a pre-procedure survey to assess contraceptive knowledge and the usefulness of the intervention. The primary outcome was knowledge of LARC availability immediately after surgical abortion. A secondary result was the contraceptive method uptake.
The researchers enrolled a total of 234 subjects. The pre-visit telephone notification improved knowledge that LARC is available immediately after surgical abortion. Participants in both study arms found the telephone notifications useful. Post-abortion contraceptive method choice did not differ between study arms.
Advance notice about contraception was acceptable to surgical abortion patients and improved their contraceptive knowledge.
Reference: https://srh.bmj.com/content/44/3/187
