Acceptability of medical abortion with methotrexate and misoprostol.

A clinical trial of efficacy of methotrexate and misoprostol for abortion was performed involving 86 women requesting an abortion at < 56 days gestation. An acceptability evaluation was included in the design of the trial. Subjects were questioned before the study about their reasons for choosing a medical abortion and past experience with surgical abortion. After the study was completed, the women were questioned about their medical abortion experience. All questions were asked in an open-ended manner. Eighty-five of 86 (99%) patients completed both questionnaires. The most common reason cited as to why women chose to have a medical abortion was to avoid some aspect of the surgery (48%). Forty-one (48%) women had experienced a surgical abortion; 49% of these women chose to have a medical abortion because of a "bad" past experience related to the surgical procedure. Upon completion of this study, 67 (79%) patients stated the medical abortion was a good experience, 12(14%) a bad experience, and 6 (7%) had a neutral response. When asked what method they would choose if they were to have another abortion, 89% would choose this method of medical abortion rather than a surgical abortion. In women who choose to participate in a clinical research trail, methotrexate and vaginal misoprostol are an acceptable and desirable method of abortion.