title: Medical abortion service in rural areas of Henan Province, China: a provider survey.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to explore the knowledge, attitudes and practices on medical abortion of abortion service providers in rural areas of China.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study via self-administered questionnaire was conducted among 362 abortion service providers from family planning service centers (FPSC) and hospitals in rural areas of Henan Province, China, between November 2009 and May 2010.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Most of the providers were female (99.4%) and obstetricians/gynecologists (63.3%). The knowledge score achieved ranged from 9.4 to 78.1 points, with both the median and the mode of 56.3 points. Of the 52.2% (189/362) of providers having a preference on abortion method, 30.2% (57/189) preferred medical abortion, while 69.8% (132/189) preferred surgical abortion. In total, 50.7% (174/343) of the providers indicated the provision of medical abortion should be expanded, with the three biggest challenges in its further expansion being increased complications/failures, poor client knowledge/awareness, and problems with drug/equipment supplies. Of all the providers, 81.7% and 92.2% reported they had experience in providing medical abortion and surgical abortion, respectively. Medical abortion providers were mainly experienced in misoprostol with oral (81.8%)/vaginal (79.6%) prostaglandin (misoprostol/gemeprost).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Knowledge on medical abortion of providers working in rural China was at a moderate level. Providers preferred surgical abortion to medical abortion. Providers have more experience in providing surgical abortion than medical abortion. Efforts should be made to overcome the perceived challenges in future expansion of medical abortion.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.forename: You
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Dian
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Cheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pang
authors.forename: Maomao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Xi
authors.forename: Yimin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cheng
mesh_terms: D000019:Abortifacient Agents; D000028:Abortion, Induced; D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002681:China; D003150:Community Health Workers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
chemical_list: D000019:Abortifacient Agents