Table 2.
“Consensus in”a outcomes from all respondent groupsc who participated in the second round (n=118) of a Delphi survey conducted to identify core outcomes for abortion trials
| Core outcome | Participant responses (n=118) |
|---|---|
| Surgical abortion | |
| Damage to internal organs | 116 (98) |
| Death | 115 (97) |
| Potentially life-threatening treatment side effectsb | 115 (97) |
| Ongoing viable pregnancy | 113 (96) |
| All of the pregnancy was passed or removed | 111 (94) |
| Treatments for life threatening side effectsb | 110 (94) |
| Venous thromboembolic eventd | 94 (80) |
| Only a portion of the pregnancy was passed or removed | 93 (79) |
| Cost to participantd | 83 (71) |
| Medical abortion | |
| Potentially life-threatening treatment side effectsb | 117 (99) |
| Death | 115 (97) |
| Treatment for life-threatening side effectsb | 112 (95) |
| All of the pregnancy was passed or removed | 112 (95) |
| Ongoing viable pregnancy | 112 (95) |
| Damage to internal organs | 109 (92) |
| Only a portion of the pregnancy was passed or removed | 97 (83) |
| Venous thromboembolic eventd | 97 (83) |
| Acceptability of experience reported by participant | 86 (73) |
Data are n (%) of participants across all groups who rated the outcome as critical (score 7–9)
a
“Consensus in” defined as when at least 70% of participants scored an item as 7 to 9 (critical) and less than 15% score it as 1 to 3 (not important)
b
The term, “side effect,” was used as lay terminology in the survey
c
Participant groups were: researchers, abortion providers, abortion patients or patient representatives, NGO representatives, and others
d
Not included in final core outcome set based on consensus discussions