Research Division, Guttmacher Institute, New York, New York.
J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2019 Dec;28(12):1623-1631. doi: 10.1089/jwh.2018.7496. Epub 2019 Jul 8.
Greater distance to abortion facilities is associated with greater out-of-pocket costs, emergency room follow-up care, negative mental health, and delayed care among U.S. abortion patients. However, the distance U.S. abortion patients travel has not been reported since 2008, and no study has examined reasons abortion patients choose the particular facility where they obtain their abortion. We analyzed data from the 2014 Abortion Patient Survey and Abortion Provider Census to report abortion patients' one-way travel from their resident zip code to their abortion clinic, whether they went to the closest clinic, and reasons for facility choice. We report unadjusted and adjusted associations of patients' characteristics with travel distance and differences in average travel distance by abortion patients' reported reasons for choosing their facility. In 2014, 65% of abortion patients traveled less than 25 miles one-way, 17% traveled 25-49 miles, and 18% traveled more than 50 miles. Abortion patients who were white, college-educated, U.S.-born, ≥12 weeks pregnant, and lived outside metropolitan areas were more likely to travel farther. Nearly half of abortion patients went to their nearest provider and 32% chose their facility because it was the closest. These results indicate that travel distance is an important determinant of abortion care access in the United States. Nearly, one-fifth of U.S. abortion patients traveled more than 50 miles one-way and the most common reason reported for clinic choice was that it was the closest.
距离堕胎设施较远与患者自付费用增加、需要急诊后续护理、心理健康状况恶化以及堕胎护理延迟有关。然而，自 2008 年以来，一直没有报告美国堕胎患者的出行距离，也没有研究调查过堕胎患者选择特定堕胎机构的原因。我们分析了 2014 年堕胎患者调查和堕胎服务提供者普查的数据，以报告堕胎患者从居住邮编到堕胎诊所的单程旅行距离、他们是否去了最近的诊所，以及选择堕胎服务的原因。我们报告了未调整和调整后的患者特征与旅行距离的关联，以及按堕胎患者选择其设施的原因报告的平均旅行距离的差异。2014 年，65%的堕胎患者单程旅行距离小于 25 英里，17%的患者旅行距离为 25-49 英里，18%的患者旅行距离超过 50 英里。白人、受过大学教育、土生土长的美国公民、怀孕 12 周以上且居住在大都市地区以外的堕胎患者更有可能旅行更远。近一半的堕胎患者去了最近的服务提供者，32%的人选择他们的诊所是因为它是最近的。这些结果表明，旅行距离是美国堕胎护理获取的一个重要决定因素。近五分之一的美国堕胎患者单程旅行超过 50 英里，报告的最常见的选择诊所的原因是它是最近的。
