A randomized comparison of patient satisfaction with oral and vaginal misoprostol for induction of labor at term

Abstract

Background: Induction of labor has the potentials for preventing maternal complications and improving pregnancy outcome especially in low-resource settings like Nigeria. The various routes of administration of misoprostol have been proven to affect the safety and efficacy of the drug. However, there is paucity of studies that compared the satisfaction of women regarding the oral and vaginal routes. The aim of this study is to compare patient satisfaction with administration of oral and vaginal misoprostol for induction of labor at term. Patients and Methods: A randomized comparative study, where 169 women admitted for induction of labor at the delivery suite of Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital were assessed for their satisfaction with regard to the oral and vaginal routes of misoprostol administration using the 5-point Likert scale. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20. Results: The request for analgesia was similar in both groups [17.9% vs 17.9%, relative risk (RR); 1.00 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.5–1.9]. However, more women in the oral group were very satisfied compared with the vaginal group (57.6% vs 33.3%), and a significant proportion of women in the oral group expressed their willingness to use the same route of labor induction in subsequent pregnancies (RR 1.1, 95% CI 1.0–1.3, P = 0.04). There was no difference in terms of maternal and neonatal outcomes for both routes. Conclusion: Women had higher satisfaction with oral misoprostol and preferred the oral route compared with the vaginal route.