Viewing ultrasound images in the abortion clinic: clients’ and health care professionals’ opinions

Abstract

Objectives: The U.K guidance recommends that health care professionals (HCPs) offer clients the opportunity to view their pre-abortion ultrasound scan. As the U.K research on this topic is limited, our objectives were to assess current practice and local population needs, through a prospective, observational survey, to improve the quality of abortion care delivery.

Methods: Over a 4 month period all clients attending the Sandyford Termination of Pregnancy and Referral (TOPAR) unit for abortion assessment were asked to fill in an anonymous questionnaire. A further questionnaire was distributed to HCPs working in the TOPAR unit.

Results: A total of 406 questionnaires were analysed. Almost half (n = 194; 47.8%) of respondents had been offered the opportunity to view their ultrasound scan, of whom 31.4% (61/194) had accepted. The majority of those who had accepted (n = 48; 78.7%) concluded that they were more likely to proceed with the abortion or that viewing the scan had made no difference to their decision to proceed. All HCPs (n = 18; 100%) completed the questionnaire, 55.6% (n = 10) of whom responded that they routinely offered viewing. Ultrasound was not routinely offered by 25% (n = 3) and 83.3% (n = 5) of medical and nursing staff, respectively.

Conclusions: We found inconsistent practice within our unit. Despite HCPs building rapport with clients prior to the ultrasound, not all clients who wished to have the opportunity to view their scan were identified. It is evident that many clients wish to have the option to choose for themselves whether they want to view their ultrasound scan, rather than be judged by an HCP as someone who might benefit from it.

摘要

目的：英国指南建议卫生保健专业人员（HCPs）为患者提供查看堕胎前超声波扫描的机会。鉴于英国关于这一倡议的研究有限, 我们的目标是通过前瞻性的观察性调查, 评估当前的做法和当地人口的需求, 以提高堕胎护理的质量。

方法：在超过4个月的时间里, 所有参加Sandyford 终止妊娠转诊（TOPAR）单位流产评估的患者都被要求填写一份匿名问卷, 另一份调查表分发给在TOPAR单位工作的HCPs。结果：共分析问卷406份。近一半（n = 194；47.8%）的反馈者曾获安排浏览他们的超音波扫描的机会, 其中31.4%（61/194）的反馈者已接受。大多数接受（n = 48；78.7%）的人认为, 他们更有可能继续堕胎, 换句话说看扫描结果对他们继续堕胎的决定没有影响。所有HCPs（n = 18；100%）完成问卷调查, 其中55.6%（n = 10）的人回答说他们经常被提供观看的机会, 25%（n = 3）的医务人员和83.3%（n = 5）的护理人员没有常规提供超声检查。

结论：各个单位的做法不尽相同。尽管HCPs在超声检查前就与患者建立了良好的关系, 但并不是所有希望有机会查看其扫描结果的患者都得到许可。很明显, 许多患者希望能够自行选择是否要查看超声波扫描, 而不是由HCPs作为可能从中受益的人来做决定。

Keywords:

• Abortion
• patient-centred care
• qualitative research
• ultrasound

Acknowledgements

Statistical expertise was provided by N. Ramparsad and C. Haig, at the Robertson Centre for Biostatistics, University of Glasgow.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.