this paper explores client satisfaction with abortion care, looking at overall satisfaction and satisfaction with hygiene, comfort and courtesy. the analysis aimed to determine whether client satisfaction was related to the characteristics of the client, in order to guide quality improvement efforts. the analysis is a secondary analysis of data collected in a survey of 489 abortion clients who attended a limited number of hospitals in three cities in russia. the data were analysed using logistic regression. client characteristics, in general, did not affect overall satisfaction though there were significant differences in overall satisfaction for unmarried versus married women (or=0·29, ci=0·13, 0·63). similarly, most characteristics of the abortion visit were not related to client satisfaction, although women who were awake for the procedure were less likely to be satisfied (or=0·37, ci=0·16, 0·89). information provided to abortion clients about self-care was the most important predictor of overall satisfaction for abortion clients (or=3·55, ci=1·64, 7·69). this suggests that improving the information provided to clients, through training providers and other staff, is important in these settings.