{
  "abstract": "Objectives To examine longitudinal trends in the provision of medication abortion (MA) in Australian general practice.Study design Retrospective study of Australian females aged 14–49 years attending Australian general practices between 2014 and 2021. Data were sourced from the national general practice dataset, MedicineInsight. We calculated rates of MA provision and reported characteristics of those receiving and providing MA services.Results We identified 4306 instances of MA provision to 3980 unique individuals. The rate of MA provision increased from 0.11 per 1000 females in 2014/15 to 2.10 per 1000 females in 2020/21. A greater absolute increase in the rate of MA was evident among those aged 25–29 years, those residing in regional areas or those in areas of lower socioeconomic status. The proportion of general practices providing MA increased from 4.4% in 2014 to 22.7% in 2021. The proportion of general practices providing MA was higher among those located outside of major cities and in higher socioeconomic status areas.Conclusions Despite modest increases in the rates of MA provision in general practice over time, less than one third of general practices provide MA. Significant geographical variation in MA provision is also evident according to remoteness, socioeconomic status and state/territory. The findings emphasise the need for additional initiatives to ensure equitable access to abortion care within the general practice setting, and future research should examine the underlying reasons for differences in MA uptake by patient characteristics and geographical location, informing targeted interventions and service planning.",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Women and Kids Theme, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia",
        "College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, Flinders University, Bedford Park, South Australia, Australia"
      ],
      "name": "Gizat M Kassie"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department General Practice, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia",
        "SPHERE NHMRC Centre for Research Excellence, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia"
      ],
      "name": "Danielle Mazza"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Judith Lumley Centre, School of Nursing and Midwifery, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia"
      ],
      "name": "Kristina Edvardsson"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "SPHERE NHMRC Centre for Research Excellence, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia",
        "Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia"
      ],
      "name": "Kirsten Black"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Collaboration for Outcomes Research and Evaluation, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada",
        "Contraception and Abortion Research Team, Women’s Health Research Institute, BC Women’s Hospital and Health Centre, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada"
      ],
      "name": "Laura Schummers"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Contraception and Abortion Research Team, Women’s Health Research Institute, BC Women’s Hospital and Health Centre, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada",
        "Department of Family Practice, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada"
      ],
      "name": "Wendy V Norman"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Women and Kids Theme, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia",
        "College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, Flinders University, Bedford Park, South Australia, Australia"
      ],
      "name": "Luke E Grzeskowiak"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Longitudinal trends and characteristics of medication abortion provision in Australian general practice: a national open-cohort study using MedicineInsight, 2014 to 2021",
  "uid": "5c0a463f-a301-5590-ac68-50faf7c536d5"
}