ReviewSexual and reproductive health matters2021
Abortion hotlines around the world: a mixed-methods systematic and descriptive review.
Review in Sexual and reproductive health matters, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 26 citations in OpenAlex.
- Reducing the harms of unsafe abortion: a systematic review of the safety, effectiveness and acceptability of harm reduction counselling for pregnant persons seeking induced abortion.BMJ sexual & reproductive health · 2022Pooled it
- Trends in utilization of an anonymous abortion and miscarriage hotline before and afterLancet regional health. Americas · 2026Article
- Understanding the support needs and preferences of people who self-managed abortion with accompaniment group support in Argentina, Nigeria, and Southeast Asia: a prospective, observational cohort study.Reproductive health · 2025Observational
- Self-Managed Medication Abortion: History, Evidence, Models of Care, and Policy Considerations.American journal of public health · 2025Article
- Intimacy, Anonymity, and "Care with Nothing in the Way" on an Abortion Hotline.Culture, medicine and psychiatry · 2025Article
- A descriptive summary of the WHO availability assessments of medical abortion medicines in eight African countries.Reproductive health · 2024Article
- Socio-ecological influences on access to abortion care in Costa Rica: a qualitative analysis of key perspectives from clinical and policy stakeholders.Sexual and reproductive health matters · 2024Article
- The continuing fight for abortion rights: taking stock of the evidence.Sexual and reproductive health matters · 2024Article
- Development of indicators to measure health system capacity for quality abortion care in 10 countries: a rapid assessment of a measurement framework and indicators.BMJ public health · 2024Article
- Trends and determinants of pregnancy loss in eastern Ethiopia from 2008 to 2019: analysis of health and demographic surveillance data.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2022Article
- Article
- In-person later abortion accompaniment: a feminist collective-facilitated self-care practice in Latin America.Sexual and reproductive health matters · 2021Article
- Safe abortion within the Venezuelan complex humanitarian emergency: understanding context as key to identifying the potential for digital self-care tools in expanding access.Sexual and reproductive health matters · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Barriers to access abortion services globally have led to the development of alternative methods to assist and support women who seek an abortion. One such method is the use of hotlines, currently utilised globally for abortion care. This review aimed to understand (1) how abortion hotlines facilitate access to abortion; and (2) how women and stakeholders describe the impact of hotlines on abortion access. Published quantitative and qualitative studies and grey literature were systematically reviewed alongside an identification and description of abortion hotlines in the public domain. Our findings highlight that the existence of abortion hotlines is highly context-dependent. They may exist either as an independent community-based model of care, or as part of formal care pathways within the health system. Hotlines operating in contexts with legal restrictions seem to be broader in scope and will use innovative approaches to adapt to their setting and reach hard-to-reach populations. All the abortion hotlines that provided information on a data extraction form used evidence-based guidelines but women seeking medical abortion still struggle to access quality medications. There is limited data in general on abortion hotlines, especially on the user and provider experience. Abortion hotlines have the potential to facilitate access to safe abortion care through evidence-based information and to decrease maternal mortality and morbidity from unsafe abortions for women and girls globally.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.