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. 2022 Oct;35(5):575-584.
doi: 10.1016/j.jpag.2022.05.003. Epub 2022 May 26.

Providing Contraceptive Health Services to Adolescents and Young Adults by Telemedicine: A Scoping Review of Patient and Provider Perspectives

Miranda F Diaz  1 , Gunnar Colleen  1 , Rachel Gruver  2 , Melanie A Gold  3 , Malia Maier  1 , John Usseglio  4 , Samantha Garbers  5
Affiliations

Providing Contraceptive Health Services to Adolescents and Young Adults by Telemedicine: A Scoping Review of Patient and Provider Perspectives

Miranda F Diaz et al. J Pediatr Adolesc Gynecol. 2022 Oct.

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this scoping review is to synthesize and identify gaps in existing research on accessibility of telemedicine-delivered contraceptive health services to female adolescents and young adults (AYAs) and acceptability of these services to AYA patients and their medical providers.

Methods: We searched the PubMed, Scopus, Embase, and CINAHL databases to extract relevant studies on telemedicine and provision of contraceptive services among non-institutionalized, non-chronically ill female AYAs, ages 10 through 24 years.

Results: We screened 154 articles, and 6 articles representing 5 studies met the full inclusion criteria. Three studies assessed telemedicine acceptability and accessibility from the perspective of providers, and 3 described patients' perceived accessibility and acceptability of a theoretical telemedicine visit. No studies directly assessed AYA patients' satisfaction with actual telemedicine visits for contraceptive services. Providers viewed telemedicine-delivered sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services as acceptable to themselves and AYA patients. Most AYAs reported that they would use telemedicine for SRH services, although they would prefer in-person care. All articles identified concerns about privacy and confidentiality as a barrier to SRH telemedicine care.

Conclusions: Telemedicine-delivered contraceptive health services for AYAs were perceived as acceptable and accessible by providers and by most AYA patients, although patients reported a preference for in-person care. However, none of these findings are based on patients' actual experiences with SRH telemedicine. Further research is needed to directly assess the accessibility and acceptability of telemedicine-delivered contraceptive health services for female AYA patients.

Keywords: Adolescents; Contraception; Family planning; Telehealth; Telemedicine; Young adults.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest Statement Three authors (SG, MAG, MM) received funding from Organon through the Investigator-Initiated Studies Program. Organon was not involved in the planning, execution, or writing of this manuscript.

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