title: Simplified medical abortion using a semi-quantitative pregnancy test for home-based follow-up.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To simplify follow-up after medical abortion by examining whether women could use a semi-quantitative pregnancy test at home to screen for ongoing pregnancy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three hundred women seeking medical abortion at a tertiary hospital in Vietnam participated in the study. Participants used a semi-quantitative pregnancy test at the hospital to estimate baseline human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) levels and administered another test at home 2 weeks later for comparison. Women interpreted the test result at home and then returned to hospital for follow-up care. At this visit, self-assessment was verified. To assess further the feasibility of the test as a follow-up tool in service delivery, 200 additional women completed a user comprehension survey.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The tests identified all 11 ongoing pregnancies among study participants (100% sensitivity; 89.7% specificity). Women reported that the test was easy to use (255/292 [87.3%]) and that provider instructions helped them to use the test (291/292 [99.7%]).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Semi-quantitative pregnancy tests offer high sensitivity and negative predictive value. If user instructions can be further simplified, the tests could be used in lieu of transvaginal ultrasound and/or serum hCG at clinic-based follow-up or by women themselves for home-based follow-up. Clinical trials.gov:NCT01150279.
authors.affiliation: Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford, USA.
authors.forename: Kelsey
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lynd
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Blum
authors.forename: Nguyen Thi Nhu
authors.initials: NT
authors.lastname: Ngoc
authors.forename: Tara
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shochet
authors.forename: Paul D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Blumenthal
authors.forename: Beverly
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Winikoff
mesh_terms: D000028:Abortion, Induced / Q000379:methods*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000359:Aftercare / Q000379:methods*; D006063:Chorionic Gonadotropin / Q000097:blood*; D003625:Data Collection; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011247:Pregnancy; D011258:Pregnancy Tests / Q000379:methods*; D012648:Self Care / Q000379:methods; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D017211:Treatment Failure; D014744:Vietnam; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D006063:Chorionic Gonadotropin