Patient viewing of the ultrasound image prior to abortion

Abstract

Background: Little research has investigated women's interest in and factors associated with viewing their ultrasound image in abortion care.

Study design: Using medical records for all abortion care visits in 2011 (n = 15,575) at an urban abortion provider, we determined the proportion of women who chose to view by sociodemographic and pregnancy-related characteristics. We used bivariate and multivariable mixed-effects logistic regression models to examine associations between individual-level factors and the decision to view.

Results: A total of 42.6% of women chose to view. Identifying as nonwhite, being under age 25, being at or below the federal poverty level, and having medium or low decision certainty about the abortion were associated with increased odds of viewing. Being age 30 and over, having previously been pregnant and being more than 9 weeks gestation were associated with decreased odds of viewing.

Conclusions: Many women seeking abortion care want to view their ultrasound image when offered the opportunity.

Keywords: Abortion; First-trimester abortion; Medication abortion; Second-trimester abortion; Ultrasound.