TABLE 2—
Abortion Patient Characteristics and Service Delivery Statistics From Planned Parenthood of the Heartland (Iowa) Before and After Introduction of Telemedicine Service in June 2008
| Variable | July 2006–June 2008 (n = 8902), No. (%), Mean, or Median | July 2008–June 2010 (n = 9054), No. (%), Mean, or Median | P |
| Patient characteristics | |||
| Age, y | .53 | ||
| 9–20 | 2225 (25) | 2331 (26) | |
| 21–24 | 2505 (28) | 2475 (27) | |
| 25–29 | 2085 (23) | 2104 (23) | |
| 30–49 | 2087 (23) | 2144 (24) | |
| Race/ethnicity | .07 | ||
| Non-Hispanic White | 6505 (73) | 6583 (73) | |
| Non-Hispanic Black | 826 (9) | 922 (10) | |
| Hispanic | 729 (8) | 725 (8) | |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 347 (4) | 323 (4) | |
| > 1 race | 144 (2) | 178 (2) | |
| Other racea or unknown race | 351 (4) | 323 (4) | |
| Highest grade of education completed | <.001 | ||
| < 9 | 177 (2) | 166 (2) | |
| 9–12 | 4541 (51) | 4711 (52) | |
| ≥ 13 | 3298 (37) | 2827 (31) | |
| Unknown | 886 (10) | 1350 (15) | |
| Received financial assistance to pay for abortion | 903 (10) | 4506 (50) | <.001 |
| Service delivery statistics | |||
| Abortion type | <.001 | ||
| Medical | 4095 (46) | 4850 (54) | |
| Surgical, ≤ 13 wk | 4464 (50) | 3886 (43) | |
| Surgical, > 13 wk | 343 (3.9) | 318 (3.5) | |
| Distance traveled by patient from residence to clinic,b miles | |||
| Mean | 33.2 | 30.7 | <.001 |
| Median | 12.6 | 12.6 | |
| 0–25 | 5271 (60) | 5470 (61) | .01 |
| 25.1–50 | 1353 (15) | 1454 (16) | |
| > 50 | 2184 (25) | 2069 (23) | |
| Distance between residential zip code of patient and nearest clinic providing surgical abortion,b miles | |||
| Mean | 29.9 | 31.6 | .002 |
| Median | 12.6 | 16.7 | |
| 0–25 | 5287 (60) | 5079 (56) | <.001 |
| 25.1–50 | 1437 (16) | 1532 (17) | |
| > 50 | 2084 (24) | 2382 (26) | |
a
American Indian, Alaskan Native, and other.
b
Patients who traveled < 500 miles only (n = 17 801; before, n = 8808; after, n = 8993).