Uptake of long-acting reversible contraception after telemedicine delivered abortion during Covid-19

Figures & data

Table 1. Demographics of patients receiving abortion care in NHS Lothian Oct 2020–Feb 2021, and whether LARC was chosen, and associated statistical significance.

Characteristic	Number of patients who did not want LARC	Number of patients who wanted LARC	p value
Total number of patients	614	330
Smoker	225 (36.6%)	142 (43.0%)	.054
Face to Face Appointment	236 (38.4%)	162 (49.1%)	.002
Nulliparous	225 (36.6%)	101 (30.6%)	.628
Previous MTOP	216 (35.2%)	172 (52.1%)	.000
Previous STOP	45 (7.3%)	29 (8.8%)	.427
Previous live birth	287 (46.74%)	185 (56.1%)	.006
Age
Under 21	11 (1.7%)	3 (1.0%)	.413
16–20	94 (15.3%)	46 (13.9%)
21–25	160 (26.1%)	111 (33.6%)
26–30	163 (26.5%)	62 (18.8%)
31–35	88 (14.3%)	66 (20.0%)
36–40	67 (10.9%)	31 (9.4%)
41–45	28 (4.6%)	9 (2.7%)
Over 45	4 (0.7%)	2 (0.6%)
Mean age in years	27.5	27.1
Standard Deviation of age in years	6.90	6.90
Gestational age
0–6 + 6	410 (66.8%)	222 (67.3%)	.742
7–9 + 6	146 (23.8%)	77 (23.3%)
10–11 + 6	17 (2.8%)	17 (5.2%)
Over 12 weeks	11 (1.8%)	5 (1.5%)
Method of abortion
Early medical abortion	509 (82.9%)	259 (78.5%)	.010
MTOP in hospital under 14 weeks	50 (8.1%)	41 (12.4%)
MTOP in hospital 14–20 weeks	18 (2.9%)	9 (2.7%)
STOP	6 (1.0%)	7 (2.1%)
Not pregnant/miscarried	31 (5.0%)	14 (4.2%)

Chi square test where significance level p < .5. Significant results are bold.

STOP: Surgical Termination of Pregnancy; MTOP: Medical Termination of Pregnancy.

Table 2. Method of contraception received and whether there was a face-to-face consultation for patients receiving abortion care in NHS Lothian Oct 2020–Feb 2021.

Method received	Number of Patients (% of 944)	% of patients who received method after initially choosing method	Number of patients who had face-to-face appointment (% of patients who received method)
IUD (initially chosen by 100 patients)	27 (2.9%)	27%	15 (55.6%)
IUS (initially chosen by 123 patients)	29 (3.1%)	23.6%	15 (51.7%)
Implant (initially chosen by 77 patients)	72 (7.6%)	94.0%	49 (68.1%)
Injection (DepoProvera/SayanaPress) (Initially chosen by 30 patients)	25 (2.6%)	83.3%	15 (60.0%)
Wished LARC, did not receive (Data does not report which, if any, other method used)	177 (18.8%)	53.6% (of 330 patients initially choosing LARC)	65 (37.8%)
Progestogen only pill	324 (34.3%)	NB. data unavailable as to whether patients initiated methods of short acting contraception after receiving	124 (38.3%)
Barrier Method	122 (12.9%)		36 (29.5%)
None	84 (8.9%)		37 (44.0%)
Combined oral contraceptive pill	53 (5.6%)		21 (39.6%)
Patch/Ring	29 (3.1%)		17 (58.6%)
Fertility awareness	1 (0.1%)		0 (0.0%)
Female sterilisation	1 (0.1%)		1 (100.0%)

IUD: Intrauterine Device; IUS: Intrauterine System; LARC: Long-acting reversible contraception.

Table 3. Demographics of patients who chose LARC at initial consultation and whether this method was received, and associated statistical significance.

Characteristic	Received LARC	Wanted LARC, did not get LARC	p value
Total number of patients	153	177
Smoker	63 (41.2%)	79 (44.6%)	.739
Face to Face Appointment	94 (61.4%)	68 (38.4%)	.000
Nulliparous	60 (39.2%)	40 (22.6%)	.001
Previous MTOP	54 (35.3%)	83 (46.9%)	.033
Previous STOP	9 (5.9%)	20 (11.3%)	.083
Previous live birth	71 (46.4%)	115 (65.0%)	.000
Age
Under 16	3 (2.0%)	0 (0.0%)	.008
16–20	31 (13.7%)	15 (8.5%)
21–25	58 (37.9%)	52 (29.4%)
26–30	25 (16.3%)	38 (21.5%)
31–35	25 (16.3%)	41 (23.2%)
36–40	9 (5.9%)	22 (12.4%)
41–45	2 (1.3%)	8 (4.5%)
Over 45	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.1%)
Gestational age
0–6 + 6	92 (60.1%)	130 (73.4%)	.024
7–9 + 6	39 (25.5%)	35 (19.8%)
10–11 + 6	9 (5.9%)	7 (4.0%)
Over 12 weeks	5 (3.5%)	1 (0.6%)
Method of abortion
Early medical abortion at home	111 (72.5%)	149 (84.1%)	.007
Hospital abortion (including all gestations MTOP and STOP)	35 (22.9%)	21 (11.9%)
Not pregnant/miscarried	7 (4.6%)	7 (0.6%)

Chi square test where significance level p < 0.5. Significant results are bold.

STOP: Surgical Termination of Pregnancy; MTOP: Medical Termination of Pregnancy.

Data availability statement

Data are not publicly available, reasonable requests will be considered by the authors.