SynthesisReproductive health2023
Abortion services during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review.
Synthesis in Reproductive health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 2 of them syntheses 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
20 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 25 citations in OpenAlex.
- The use of telemedicine services for medical abortion.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025Pooled it
- Healthcare professionals' and students' willingness to perform abortion: A systematic review and meta-analysis, 2014-2025.Women's health (London, England)Pooled it
- Post-abortion needs-based education via the WeChat platform to lessen fear and encourage effective contraception: a post-abortion care service intervention-controlled trial.BMC women's health · 2024Trial
- Seeking HELP beyond the pill: Women's perceptions of informed consent for medication abortion: Mixed methods research.PloS one · 2026Article
- Trends in Hospital Abortion During the First 2 Years of COVID-19 in Quebec, Canada: Results From a Population-Based Observational Study.Perspectives on sexual and reproductive health · 2025Observational
- The Decline of Abortion in Spain Over the Last Decade.Perspectives on sexual and reproductive health · 2025Article
- Maternal Disorders Associated with Morbidity and Mortality in a Metropolis of Kazakhstan.Clinics and practice · 2025Article
- Transforming women's health, empowerment, and gender equality with digital health: evidence-based policy and practice.The Lancet. Digital health · 2025Review
- Trends in Abortion Rates in Ontario, Canada.JAMA network open · 2025Article
- Telemedicine Use During the COVID-19 Pandemic in 8 Countries From the International Sexual Health and Reproductive Health Consortium: Web-Based Cross-Sectional Survey Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Imagining Coat-Hangers and Pills: A Qualitative Exploration of Abortion Beliefs and Attitudes in Hostile Policy Contexts in the United States.Perspectives on sexual and reproductive health · 2025Article
- Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on access to sexual and reproductive health services for women and gender-diverse people with disabilities in Canada: a qualitative study.Sexual and reproductive health matters · 2024Article
- Characteristics and contraceptive practices among Chinese women seeking abortion: a multicentre, descriptive study from 2019 to 2021.BMJ sexual & reproductive health · 2024Article
- Terminations of Pregnancy in the Pandemic Years 2020-2022 Compared to 2011-2019.Deutsches Arzteblatt international · 2024Article
- Maintaining essential health services during COVID-19 in Ghana: a qualitative study.BMJ global health · 2024Article
- A consensus statement on perinatal mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic and recommendations for post-pandemic recovery and re-build.Frontiers in global women's health · 2024Article
- Implementing medical abortion through telemedicine in Colombia: a qualitative study.Sexual and reproductive health matters · 2023Article
- Judicial bypass for minors post-Women's health (London, England)Review
- Article
- Miscarriage Trends and Blood Group Associations During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Comparative Study in Ramsar, Iran.Iranian journal of nursing and midwifery researchArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors at 11 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Evidence suggests that COVID-19 may impair access to sexual and reproductive health services and safe abortion. The purpose of this systematic review was investigating the changes of abortion services in the COVID-19 pandemic era. We searched PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus for relevant studies published as of August 2021, using relevant keywords. RCT and non-original studies were excluded from the analysis and 17 studies of 151 included in our review. Requests to access medication abortion by telemedicine and demand for self-managed abortion were the main findings of identified studies. Women requested an abortion earlier in their pregnancy, and were satisfied with tele-abortion care due to its flexibility, and ongoing telephone support. Presenting telemedicine services without ultrasound has also been reported. Visits to clinics were reduced based on the severity of the restrictions, and abortion clinics had less revenue, more costs, and more changes in the work style of their healthcare providers. Telemedicine was reported safe, effective, acceptable, and empowering for women. Reasons for using tele-abortion were privacy, secrecy, comfort, using modern contraception, employing of women, distance from clinics, travel restrictions, lockdowns, fear of COVID-19, and political reasons (abortion prohibition). Complications of women using tele-abortion were pain, lack of psychological support, bleeding, and need to blood transfusions. The results of this study showed that using telemedicine and teleconsultations for medical abortion in the pandemic conditions may be extended after pandemic. Findings can be used by reproductive healthcare providers and policy makers to address the complications of abortion services.Trail registration This study is registered in PROSPERO with number CRD42021279042.
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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.