Safety and effectiveness of termination services performed by doctors versus midlevel providers: a systematic review and analysis
This review assesses the effectiveness and safety of abortion provided by MLPs, midwives and nurses compared to doctors
Abstract
A systematic search was conducted of published trials and comparison studies assessing the effectiveness and/or safety of abortion provided by mid-level providers (MLPs), midwives, nurses, and other non physician providers, compared to doctors. The primary outcomes of interest were: (1) incomplete or failed abortion; and (2) measures of safety (adverse events and complications) of abortion procedures administered by MLPs and doctors. There were no statistical differences in incomplete abortion and complications for first trimester surgical and medical abortion up to 9 weeks performed by MLPs compared with physicians.
This research is funded under the Department for International Development’s Strengthening Evidence for Programming on Unintended Pregnancy (STEP UP) which is led by the Population Council
Citation
Ngo, D.T.; Park, H.N.; Free, C. Safety and effectiveness of termination services performed by doctors versus midlevel providers: a systematic review and analysis. International Journal of Women’s Health (2013) (5) 9-17. [DOI: 10.2147/IJWH.S39627]