Adolescents' satisfaction with abortion services received and factors associated with satisfaction at reproductive health centres

AIM

This study assessed adolescents' satisfaction with services received during their most recent abortion and the factors associated with satisfaction at reproductive health centres in the Greater Accra region of Ghana.

DESIGN

A facility-based cross-sectional survey was used for this study.

METHODS

Overall, 254 adolescent girls aged between 15 and 19 years, who had an abortion within 1 week of the study period were recruited for the study. All the 254 respondents were recruited consecutively as they visited health facilities for abortion services from March 2019 to February 2020. Written informed consent was signed by respondents, and data were collected using the Patient Satisfaction with Nursing Care Quality Questionnaire, and the data were analysed using Stata version 15.0. Univariate, bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted.

RESULTS

A majority of adolescents reported being satisfied with the abortion services they received. Ample waiting space and the system of 'first-come-first-served' were the highest rated elements of service satisfaction. Adolescents were least satisfied with the inadequacy of instructions and lack of information on medications received and their therapeutic or side effects. Ethnicity, having a stable intimate partner and perceived adequacy of staff were the factors associated with satisfaction with abortion services.

CONCLUSION

Adolescents are unique group of people with peculiar health needs. If they are treated with respect and dignity, they are likely to be satisfied with services received from the reproductive health centres offering comprehensive abortion care.

IMPACT

The study addresses adolescent satisfaction with abortion care received; if health providers treat adolescent seeking abortion care with respect, friendly and non-judgemental attitude, it will enable adolescents to seek abortion care from qualified professionals instead of unskilled service providers to reduce maternal mortality.

PATIENT'S CONTRIBUTION

Patients from 11 reproductive centres responded to the questionnaire used for the data collection.

Women's Satisfaction with Comprehensive Abortion Care and Associated Factors in Public Health Facilities of Mojo Town, East Ethiopia

Background

Client satisfaction is an important and commonly used indicator for measuring the quality of health care as it affects clinical outcomes, patient retention, and medical malpractice claims. To limit unintended pregnancies and avoid repeated abortions promoting comprehensive abortion care services is crucial. In Ethiopia problems related to abortion were neglected and access to quality abortion care was very limited. Similarly, information related to comprehensive abortion service, particularly clients' satisfaction, and associated factors are limited in the study area that the study will be going to fill.

Methods

A facility-based cross-sectional study design was employed on 255 women who come for abortion service in public health facilities of Mojo town were included consecutively. The data was coded and entered into Epi info version 7 software and exported to SPSS version 20 for analysis. Bivariable and multivariable logistic regression models were applied to identify the associated factors. Model fitness and multicollinearity were checked by using the Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness of fit test and the Variance Inflation Factor (VIF). Adjusted Odds Ratios and their 95% Confidence were reported.

Results

A total of 255 study subjects were included in this study with a 100% response rate. The study depicted that 56.5% (95% CI: 51.3, 61.7) of the clients were satisfied with comprehensive abortion care. Having college and above educational level (AOR: 0.27; 95% CI: (0.14, 0.95)), Employee occupation (AOR: 1.86; 95% CI: (1.41, 2.93)), medical abortion as a type of uterine evacuation (AOR: 3.93; 95% CI: (1.75, 8.83)) and natural method of family planning users (AOR: 0.36; 95% CI: (0.08, 0.60)) were factors associated with women's satisfaction.

Conclusion

The overall satisfaction toward comprehensive abortion care was considerably lower. Waiting time, cleanness of rooms, lack of laboratory service, and availability of service providers are mentioned factors for client dissatisfaction.

Research priorities to support evidence-informed policies and advocacy for access to safe abortion care in sub-Saharan Africa

A key obstacle to advocacy efforts to promote legal and policy reforms that ensure women's and girls' access to comprehensive abortion care (CAC) is the lack of relevant and timely evidence. This commentary outlines a research agenda-setting initiative that identified research priorities to support evidence-informed policy and advocacy for CAC access in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). It involved three phases: 1) a landscape analysis; 2) research agenda co-creation with stakeholders, and 3) a validation exercise on research priorities. Overall, the priority evidence needs included 1) estimating the incidence and magnitude of unsafe abortion and related costs; 2) examining the role of abortion laws and policies in facilitating or inhibiting access to CAC; 3) developing and documenting successful approaches for addressing societal barriers to the provision of CAC, and fostering a more inclusive and liberal abortion environment, and 4) documenting practice-based evidence on the provision of legal abortion services as well as for advocating for CAC. Various stakeholders, including researchers, policymakers, civil society organizations, and funding agencies, will find the agenda useful as they engage, at different levels, for the full domestication and implementation of forward-looking commitments on access to CAC in SSA.

Post-abortion contraceptive adoption in Ethiopia

OBJECTIVE

To assess the effect of couple counseling on modern contraception adoption among women receiving abortions.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted between October 2019 and May 2020 at the abortion clinic of Saint Paul's Hospital Millennium Medical College, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Women receiving abortion care were interviewed using Open Data Kit. Logistic regression was used to assess predictors of modern contraception adoption.

RESULTS

During the study period, a total of 326 women receiving abortion care were interviewed and 112 (34.4%) received couple counseling. Of the 112, 89 (79.5%) adopted modern contraception. The odds of using a modern contraceptive method were 2.34 times higher among women whose partner approved (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 2.34; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.05-5.22) compared with those without partner approval. The odds of using a modern contraceptive method was 1.78 times higher among women who believed they had partner support (aOR 1.78; 95% CI 1.03-3.10) compared with women without support.

CONCLUSION

Few women received couple counseling for contraception. Partner approval and a woman's belief that her partner supports her contraception decision were associated with contraception adoption.

Abortion-related care and the role of the midwife: a global perspective

Introduction

The International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) represents 132 midwifery associations in 113 countries. The ICM disseminates the Essential Competencies for Basic Midwifery Practice (EC) that describes the global scope of midwifery practice. The basic (core) and expanded (additional or optional) role of midwives in providing abortion-related care services was first described in 2010. A literature review about three items that are particularly critical to access to abortion services was conducted. Findings that emerged in the recent 2016-2017 update study about these three items are presented.

Methods

A modified Delphi study was administered via the Internet in a series of three rounds. Thirty-seven statements of abortion-related knowledge and skill were presented.

Results

A total of 895 individuals participated. The total of respondents across all three rounds represented 90 of the 105 member countries at the time of the study. The role of midwives in providing comprehensive abortion care, including referral for abortion and provision of postabortion family planning, achieved the necessary 85% agreement to be designated as essential (basic) knowledge or skill for the global scope of midwifery practice. The provision of medication abortion and performance of manual vacuum aspiration abortion were designated as optional for midwives who wished to provide these services. Endorsement of these latter practices was highest in both Francophone and Anglophone regions of Africa, Asian Pacific countries, and countries at a lower state of economic development.

Conclusion

The role of midwives in provision of abortion-related care services was reaffirmed in the recent Delphi study to inform the update to the EC. The role of midwives as direct providers of medical and vacuum aspiration abortions was reaffirmed for those individual midwives who wish to obtain the requisite competency to provide those services, in jurisdictions where these services are legally authorized.