Clinical trial NCT06787274: Research on Equity in Abortion Care by TeleHealth
Official title: Improving Health Equity by Understanding Preferences in Telehealth Abortion
Study type: OBSERVATIONAL
Overall status: RECRUITING
Conditions: Abortion in First Trimester
Abortion Early
Abortion; Attempted
Keywords: health equity
medication abortion
telehealth
Lead sponsor: University of California, San Francisco
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: Ibis Reproductive Health
name: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
First posted: 2025-01-22
Enrollment: 2000
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 14
Maximum age (years): 64
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Observational model: COHORT
Time perspective: PROSPECTIVE
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).

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.

Detailed description: Given the novelty of telehealth abortion services and new abortion bans, there is a critical need for research on the role of telehealth for abortion to expand equitable abortion access among groups historically marginalized in healthcare. Outside of abortion care, telehealth appears to 1) bridge geographic disparities,2) facilitate language translation,3) provide privacy and safety for immigrants with varying legal statuses, 4) decrease patient costs, and 5) require less time off work or school. At the same time, telehealth services could exacerbate inequities if patients lack technology, internet connectivity, or digital literacy. Because abortion is overregulated and highly stigmatized, research on telehealth for abortion is vital. The investigators hypothesize that telehealth is associated with several benefits compared to in-person abortion care, but is not yet reaching people in areas with greater health inequities who need these innovations most. This research can also inform the policies in states that are considering ways to support people in banned states.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

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

Exclusion Criteria:

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

Primary outcomes:
measure: Determine the ways in which telehealth services affect timing and time to care by comparing in-person and telehealth patients
timeFrame: Baseline
measure: Determine the ways in which telehealth services affect costs by comparing in-person and telehealth patients
timeFrame: Baseline and 1 week
measure: Determine the ways in which telehealth services affect follow-up care by comparing in-person and telehealth patients
timeFrame: 1 week
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Investigate the patient preferences for different aspects of telehealth for abortion care among historically marginalized groups
timeFrame: Baseline and 1 week
measure: Investigate the barriers in telehealth for abortion care in historically marginalized groups
timeFrame: Baseline and 1 week
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Oakland
country: United States
facility: Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH)
state: California
Study officials:
affiliation: University of California, San Francisco
name: Ushma Upadhyay, PhD, MPH
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: