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. 2025 Apr 15;25(1):183.
doi: 10.1186/s12905-025-03672-9.

Factors influencing abortion duration, bleeding volume, pain scores, and anxiety levels during medical abortion: a cross-sectional study

Wenbo Wu  1   2 , Liyan Wang  3 , Xiangfei Zhu  3 , Wenjuan Wan  3 , Waixiang Yuan  3 , Qianqian Jiang  3 , Yun Gao  3 , Wei Cheng  3 , Yuehui Zheng #  4   5 , Yanhong Du #  6
Affiliations

Factors influencing abortion duration, bleeding volume, pain scores, and anxiety levels during medical abortion: a cross-sectional study

Wenbo Wu et al. BMC Womens Health. .

Abstract

Background: Some factors that influence the medical abortion(MA) process are unknown. This study aims to investigate the influential factors associated with abortion time, bleeding volume, pain scores, and anxiety during the process of MA.

Methods: A cross-sectional design was used in this research. Demographic information, pregnancy duration, bleeding volume, abortion duration, pain scores, anxiety levels, step count, and rate were recorded for each participant throughout MA. Data analysis was conducted using the SPSS version 26.0.

Results: The mean age of the 450 women included in the study was 32.14 ± 5.57 years. The study revealed that older age correlates with longer abortion duration (rs = 0.102, P < 0.05) but lower pain scores during MA (rs=-0.178, P < 0.001). A history of dysmenorrhea shortened abortion time (rs=-0.097, P < 0.05) but increased pain (rs = 0.106, P < 0.05) and anxiety (rs = 0.119, P < 0.05). Women with cesarean section histories reported less pain (rs=-0.226, P < 0.001) and anxiety (rs=-0.129, P < 0.001) during MA. Vaginal delivery history decreased pain scores (rs=-0.117, P < 0.05) but did not significantly affect other outcomes. Previous surgical abortion alleviated pain (rs=-0.139, P < 0.001) and anxiety (rs=-0.093, P < 0.05) during MA. Increased walking steps or faster step rates shortened abortion duration (rs=-0.107, P < 0.05; rs=-0.133, P < 0.05) but raised pain scores (rs = 0.258, P < 0.001; rs = 0.235, P < 0.001).

Conclusions: Individuals with dysmenorrhea and high physical activity (PA)may have shorter abortion durations. Older individuals and those with cesarean or surgical abortion histories may experience less pain during medical abortion. Dysmenorrhea correlates with higher anxiety, while cesarean sections and surgery abortion lower it.

Trial registration: This research has been filed with the National Research Filing Center system under file number MR-44-24-032502.

Keywords: Anxiety; Bleeding; Medical abortion; Pain score; Physical activity.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: This study was conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Ethical approval was obtained from the Institutional Review Board of the University of Hong Kong–Shenzhen Hospital (approval number: (2023)152). The study complies with ICH-GCP, GCP, national standards, and relevant regulations. All participants were fully informed about the study’s purpose and provided written informed consent prior to participation. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

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