Cochrane · systematic review · CD011242
Doctors or mid‐level providers for abortion
Barnard, S, Kim, C, Park, MH, et al. · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · 2015 · Cochrane Library
Fertility RegulationAMSTAR 2: not assessed
SoF tableOnly the outcomes this review put in its Summary of Findings table are listed (the Cochrane Handbook caps them at about seven per comparison). Its other analyses are not shown here.
Questions
10
current version
GRADE rated
10
No studies
0
Included studies
NR
No studies 0 · 0%Ungraded 0 · 0%Very low 5 · 50%Low 3 · 30%Moderate 0 · 0%High 2 · 20%
Ungraded means an effect was reported without a GRADE rating; it is not a gap. No studies means the review found nothing to answer the question. The six categories are a display order, not a score.
Questions and results
Surgical abortion procedures: mid‐level providers compared to doctors
Population: Patients requesting abortion procedures
| Outcome | Effect | Evidence | Status / GRADE |
|---|---|---|---|
Failure/incomplete abortion (RCTs) Provider assessment Surgical abortion procedures: mid‐level providers vs doctors | RR 2.97 [0.21, 41.82] | 2 studies · 2789 participants | Low |
Failure/incomplete abortion (observational studies) Provider or supervisor assessment Surgical abortion procedures: mid‐level providers vs doctors | RR 2.2 [1.34, 3.6] | 3 studies · 13715 participants | Very low Downgraded: risk of bias |
Complications (RCTs) Provider assessment Surgical abortion procedures: mid‐level providers vs doctors | RR 0.99 [0.17, 5.7] | 2 studies · 2789 participants | Low |
Complications (observational studies) Provider or supervisor assessment Surgical abortion procedures: mid‐level providers vs doctors | RR 1.38 [0.7, 2.72] | 3 studies · 13715 participants | Very low Downgraded: risk of bias, imprecision |
Total complications (RCTs) Provider assessment Surgical abortion procedures: mid‐level providers vs doctors | RR 3.07 [0.16, 59.08] | 2 studies · 2789 participants | Low |
Total complications (observational studies) Provider or supervisor assessment Surgical abortion procedures: mid‐level providers vs doctors | RR 1.36 [0.86, 2.14] | 4 studies · 16173 participants | Very low Downgraded: risk of bias, imprecision |
Medical abortion procedures: mid‐level providers compared to doctors
Population: Patients requesting abortion procedures
| Outcome | Effect | Evidence | Status / GRADE |
|---|---|---|---|
Failure/incomplete abortion (RCTs) Provider assessment Medical abortion procedures: mid‐level providers vs doctors | RR 0.81 [0.48, 1.36] | 2 studies · 1892 participants | High |
Failure/incomplete abortion (observational studies) Verifier assessment Medical abortion procedures: mid‐level providers vs doctors | RR 1.09 [0.63, 1.88] | 1 study · 1164 participants | Very low Downgraded: risk of bias |
Complications (RCTs) Provider assessment Medical abortion procedures: mid‐level providers vs doctors | no estimate extracted | 2 studies · 1892 participants | High |
Complications (observational studies) Verifier assessment Medical abortion procedures: mid‐level providers vs doctors | no estimate extracted | 1 study · 1164 participants | Very low Downgraded: risk of bias |