Reasons for using telehealth medication abortion: adolescents and young adults compared with adults

Objectives While telehealth abortion is now widely available in the United States, research on adolescent and young adult (AYA) use of telehealth abortion is limited. We described AYAs' reasons for using telehealth for abortion and compared them to adults' reasons.Study design We analyzed survey data from 1,632 telehealth abortion patients (462 AYAs ages 16-24, including eight adolescents 24) in 2021-2022. We used logistic regression to compare reasons between AYAs and adults. We also analyzed 462 open-ended AYA responses using inductive thematic analysis and deductive coding.Results AYAs (ages 16-24) were more likely than adults (ages 25+) to cite lower costs (67% vs. 55%; pConclusions Telehealth abortion successfully served AYAs who reported compounded financial, logistical, and privacy-related barriers to in-person care. Expanding access to telehealth abortion may help AYAs continue to overcome these barriers.Clinical trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04432792).