Women's satisfaction with medical abortion with RU486

The combination of RU486 (mifepristone) and prostaglandin analogues has been used for medical abortion in several European centres. We surveyed 41 Australian women who successfully used this method of abortion in a World Health Organization-sponsored trial. Overall, the women were satisfied with the method and found the associated pain level acceptable. A World Health Organization-sponsored study evaluated the efficacy and side effects of 2 doses of mifepristone (600 or 200 mg) followed by 400 mcg of misoprostol 48 hours later for the termination of early pregnancy in an international multicenter, randomized controlled trial. Reported are the partial results for 38 women from Monash University and Family Planning Victoria (Australia) enrolled in the trial's experimental group. Women were asked to rate their degree of satisfaction with the medical abortion on a scale of 1 (completely dissatisfied) to 5 (completely satisfied); the mean score was 4.5 (range, 1-5). The 15 women who had previously had a surgical abortion found the medical approach more acceptable (mean score, 4.5; range, 3-5). 34 participants (89.5%) rated the level of pain and discomfort associated with their medical abortion as acceptable. The main perceived advantages of medical abortion were its naturalness and non-invasiveness and the avoidance of anesthesia.