Publication date: Dec 08, 2024
In obstetrics, telehealth is widely used in the provision of prenatal and postpartum care. The objective was to compare the utilization of commonly recommended services after delivery among individuals receiving telehealth versus in-person postpartum care. We performed a retrospective cohort study of individuals receiving postpartum care at a single institution between 1 July 2020 and 30 June 2023. The primary exposure was the exclusive use of telehealth versus an in-person visit for postpartum care. Two primary outcomes were assessed between 0 and 365 days after the delivery: 1) long-acting reversible contraceptive (LARC) method use and 2) pap smear screening. Secondary outcomes occurring between 0 and 365 days after delivery included: clinic-based weight assessment, clinic-based blood pressure assessment, any prescription contraception use, primary care visit, and pregnancy within 1 year. Among the 9953 individuals, 9058 (91. 0%) had a postpartum visit. 1811 (19. 9%) utilized telehealth exclusively, which peaked during the COVID-19 pandemic. Exclusive telehealth users were less likely to have a pap smear (21. 6 vs. 40. 1%, p
| Concepts | Keywords |
|---|---|
| June | contraception |
| Obstetrics | pap smear |
| Pandemic | postpartum |
| Prenatal | pregnancy |
| primary care | |
| Telehealth |
Semantics
| Type | Source | Name |
|---|---|---|
| disease | IDO | blood |
| disease | MESH | COVID-19 pandemic |