Physical Symptoms and Emotional Responses Among Women Undergoing Induced Abortion Protocols During the Second Trimester

Background: Maintaining women`s well-being during induced second trimester abortion is a cornerstone of nursing care. Therefore, alongside with the emotional care and support during a medical procedure, health care providers should also be encouraged to strive towards finding and using a method for abortion induction with the narrowest adverse effect profile.

Objective: To compare the physical and emotional effects of two medical protocols for induced abortion during the second trimester.

Methods: The present study was part of a prospective randomized controlled trial comparing mifepristone followed by oxytocin or misoprostol that was conducted at the Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel, from January 10, 2009, to February 22, 2012. Inclusion criteria were pregnancy (14–24 weeks), epidural analgesia, and medical induction of abortion (either elective or following missed abortion). A structured questionnaire was used to assess the participants’ physical symptoms and emotional responses.

Results: The primary outcome for the present analysis was the degree of physical symptoms reported. Results: Overall, 68 women in the oxytocin group and 67 in the misoprostol group received epidural analgesia and completed the questionnaire. As assessed using a five-point Likert scale, women in the misoprostol group were more likely than those in the oxytocin group to experience diarrhea (1.34 ± 0.84 vs 1.10 ± 0.55; P = 0.05) and shivers (3.03 ± 1.75 vs 1.75 ± 1.21; P b 0.001). No other between-group differences were detected for the physical or emotional variables evaluated.

Conclusion: Differences in adverse physical symptoms experienced by the two treatment groups did not influence the participants’ subsequent emotional response.