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Background/aims: Providing preabortion contraceptive counseling for the method of contraception may reduce the incidence of repeat abortions. This study aimed to compare the acceptance and continuation rates of intrauterine devices (IUDs), combined oral contraceptives (COCs), and condom use after abortion in women who received preabortion contraceptive counseling.Methods: Women seeking a first-trimester abortion prospectively received preabortion contraceptive counseling and the choice of method of contraception was based on the counseling and not related to prior methods of birth control. Outcomes included continuation of postabortion contraceptive use and repeat abortions over a 6-month follow-up period.Results: Four hundred and fifty-five women (IUD group: n = 161; COC group: n = 149; condom group: n = 135) completed 6-month follow-up after the abortions. At the sixth month follow-up, patients continued using the IUD, COC, and condoms for contraception were 64.2, 10, and 51.5%, respectively. Higher age, being married, parity ≥1, and previous abortion were factors that were associated with more frequent selection of an IUD, while a higher education level was associated with a more frequent selection of COC and condoms.Conclusion: The continued use of COCs after abortion is low even with preabortion contraceptive counseling. The IUD offers reliable birth control with a lower discontinuation rate than COCs or condoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate the effects of postabortion care (PAC) on improving contraceptive use in those postabortion women. Methods: A prospective study was designed to assess the postabortion contraceptive use in 611 women seeking abortion, including 307 women with PAC as the PAC group and 304 women with traditional abortion service as the control group. The acceptability of postabortion contraceptives, the continuation rate of contraception and the rate of repeated abortion were compared after 6 months after abortion. Results: 35.50% of women in the PAC group chose IUD as the immediate contraceptives after abortion, especially those women with the preabortion contraceptive counseling, while only one (0.33%) in the control group chose (χ² = 125.695, P = 0.000). 354 women received interview with consent during the 6 month follow-up period, including 173 women in the PAC group and 181 women in the control group. There was not significantly difference in those rates of continuation use of immediate IUD in two groups (96.00% vs. 100.0%, χ² = 0.000, P = 1.000). The acceptability of combined oral contraceptive (COC) in the PAC group was significantly higher than that in the control group (19.08% vs. 8.84%, χ² = 6.936, P = 0.008), while the continuation rate of COC in the PAC group was significantly lower than that in the control group (24.24% vs. 87.5%, χ² = 14.966, P = 0.000). There was a higher acceptability of condom in the control group when compared with the PAC group (73.48% vs. 37.57%, χ² = 44.828, P = 0.000), while there was not significant difference in the continuation rate of condom in two groups (χ² = 0.023, P = 0.881). There was not significant difference in the rate of repeated abortion in two groups (χ² = 0.564, P = 0.453), all of the repeated abortions were due to failing use of condom. There was only one case of IUD expulsion in the PAC group. Conclusions: Preabortion contraceptive counseling can significantly improve the application of immediate IUD in those postabortion women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Medical regimens using mifepristone in combination with prostaglandins have been widely available for women undergoing termination of pregnancy (TOP) at 10-16 weeks' gestation in China. We undertook a systematic review to compare different regimens of mifepristone with prostaglandins for TOP at 10-16 weeks' gestation., Methods: We searched multiple electronic databases for English and Chinese language reports (1990-2007) including MEDLINE, the Cochrane Library and the Chinese Biomedical Literature Database. Included were trials comparing mifepristone with prostaglandins (misoprostol, gemeprost or carboprost (PG05)) to each other for women at 10-16 weeks' gestation. Outcomes were successful abortion rates, induction-to-expulsion time, blood loss and side effects. Data were processed with RevMan 5 software., Results: Nineteen trials comparing mifepristone with prostaglandin (misoprostol and PG05) were found of which 14 contributed to meta-analyses (4206 women). The quality of reports was poor. The effectiveness of vaginal mifepristone/misoprostol was super than mifepristone/PG05 (RR 1.14, 95%CI 1.05-1.22) as was induction-to-expulsion time, blood loss and side effects. When comparing misoprostol/mifepristone 150mg to misoprostol/mifepristone 200mg, no difference in TOP success rates were found (RR 0.98, 95%CI 0.96-1.01). Misoprostol vaginally compared to orally significantly increased the TOP success rate (RR 1.12, 95%CI 1.01-1.24). Gastrointestinal symptoms and fever occurred more often in misoprostol oral group (RR 1.67, 95%CI 1.46-1.91)., Conclusions: Medical regimens of mifepristone/prostaglandins were effective and safe for TOP at 10-16 weeks' gestation. Misoprostol was super than PG05, and misoprostol vaginally was found to have better effectiveness than misoprostol orally. Further research should evaluate the relative effectiveness of medical methods compared to surgery., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)