Work

Factors influencing abortion duration, bleeding volume, pain scores, and anxiety levels during medical abortion: a cross-sectional study

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Some factors that influence the medical abortion(MA) process are unknown. This study aims to investigate the influential factors associated with abortion time, bleeding volume, pain scores, and anxiety during the process of MA. METHODS: A cross-sectional design was used in this research. Demographic information, pregnancy duration, bleeding volume, abortion duration, pain scores, anxiety levels, step count, and rate were recorded for each participant throughout MA. Data analysis was conducted using the SPSS version 26.0. RESULTS: The mean age of the 450 women included in the study was 32.14 ± 5.57 years. The study revealed that older age correlates with longer abortion duration (rs = 0.102, P < 0.05) but lower pain scores during MA (rs=-0.178, P < 0.001). A history of dysmenorrhea shortened abortion time (rs=-0.097, P < 0.05) but increased pain (rs = 0.106, P < 0.05) and anxiety (rs = 0.119, P < 0.05). Women with cesarean section histories reported less pain (rs=-0.226, P < 0.001) and anxiety (rs=-0.129, P < 0.001) during MA. Vaginal delivery history decreased pain scores (rs=-0.117, P < 0.05) but did not significantly affect other outcomes. Previous surgical abortion alleviated pain (rs=-0.139, P < 0.001) and anxiety (rs=-0.093, P < 0.05) during MA. Increased walking steps or faster step rates shortened abortion duration (rs=-0.107, P < 0.05; rs=-0.133, P < 0.05) but raised pain scores (rs = 0.258, P < 0.001; rs = 0.235, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Individuals with dysmenorrhea and high physical activity (PA)may have shorter abortion durations. Older individuals and those with cesarean or surgical abortion histories may experience less pain during medical abortion. Dysmenorrhea correlates with higher anxiety, while cesarean sections and surgery abortion lower it. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This research has been filed with the National Research Filing Center system under file number MR-44-24-032502.

Source: BMC Women s Health

DOI: 10.1186/s12905-025-03672-9