Research on Equity in Abortion Care by TeleHealth

NCT06787274 | Recruiting

• 2 other identifiers: 23-39122R01HD110659
• Study Type: observational
• Target: 2,000
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This study will examine the ways in which telehealth for reproductive healthcare affects timing, costs, and follow-up care; whether telehealth reaches people in areas with greater health inequities; and the attributes of telehealth that patients want. Study surveys will be administered to interested, eligible participants: 2,000 patients seeking abortion care will complete the study, comprising of 2 groups: patients seeking medication abortion care either (1) in-person or (2) via telehealth. This project will address how telehealth services can be optimized for people of color, low-income people, and immigrants to increase digital inclusion and health equity.

Conditions

Abortion in First Trimester; Abortion Early; Abortion; Attempted

Keywords

health equity; medication abortion; telehealth

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

• Determine the ways in which telehealth services affect timing and time to care by comparing in-person and telehealth patients

  Descriptive statistics for the elapsed days from the first pregnancy test to 1) date of the decision to have an abortion, 2) date of first contact with the clinic, 3) date of medication receipt, and 4) date mifepristone (the first medication) was ingested.

  Baseline

• Determine the ways in which telehealth services affect costs by comparing in-person and telehealth patients

  Report of 1) out-of-pocket costs for the abortion and 2) the costs of related expenses, including transportation, childcare, lost work, and other expenses.

  Baseline and 1 week

• Determine the ways in which telehealth services affect follow-up care by comparing in-person and telehealth patients

  The incidence of unplanned in-person follow-up visits to a clinician, emergency room, or other facility, between participants in the telehealth and in-person groups using logistic regression models.

  1 week

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Investigate the patient preferences for different aspects of telehealth for abortion care among historically marginalized groups

  Baseline and 1 week

• Investigate the barriers in telehealth for abortion care in historically marginalized groups

  Baseline and 1 week

Study Arms (4)

In-person via established clinic

People seeking or who have received in-person medication abortion care through an established clinic.

Telehealth via established clinic

People seeking or who have received telehealth medication abortion care through an established clinic. A telehealth medication abortion involves a remote clinical consultation to confirm medical eligibility with medications delivered by mail

Telehealth through other online services or searches

People seeking or who have received telehealth medication abortion care through an online service

In-person through online search

People seeking or who have received in-person abortion services through online searches

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 14 Years - 64 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64)
• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Participants who have recently received or are currently seeking medication abortion, either through in-person or telehealth services will be able to participate on this study. Up to 1,000 participants will be enrolled through established clinics that offer in-person and telehealth services (500 in-person clinic patients; 500 telehealth patients). Up to 1,000 participants will be enrolled online via Google Ads or other online outreach methods (500 in-person clinic patients and 500 telehealth patients).

You may qualify if:

• Must be currently or about to be obtaining medication abortion care through in-person or telehealth services

You may not qualify if:

• Not currently or about to be obtaining medication abortion care through in-person or telehealth services

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of California, San Francisco: lead
• Ibis Reproductive Health: collaborator
• Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD): collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH)

Oakland, California, 94612, United States

RECRUITING

Study Officials

• Ushma Upadhyay, PhD, MPH

  University of California, San Francisco

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Ushma Upadhyay, PhD, MPH

CONTACT

415-353-4626; ushma.upadhyay@ucsf.edu

Jennifer Ko, MLIS

CONTACT

415-353-9113; jennifer.ko@ucsf.edu

Study Design

• Study Type: observational
• Observational Model: COHORT
• Time Perspective: PROSPECTIVE
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: April 5, 2024
• First Posted: January 22, 2025
• Study Start: February 12, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): August 31, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): August 31, 2026
• Last Updated: April 8, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-04

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)