Skip to main content
PMC home page
American Journal of Public Health logoLink to American Journal of Public Health
. 1997 Mar;87(3):417–420. doi: 10.2105/ajph.87.3.417

Health care seeking behaviors related to sexually transmitted diseases among adolescents.

J D Fortenberry 1
PMCID: PMC1381015  PMID: 9096544

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: This study identified social, cognitive, and behavioral factors associated with how adolescents seek health care for sexually transmitted diseases. METHODS: Data for male and female adolescents (n = 208) attending a clinic specializing in sexually transmitted diseases were examined. RESULTS: Symptomatic female adolescents required greater time to obtain care than asymptomatic female adolescents or symptomatic male adolescents. Factors affecting duration of care seeking interval included perception of barriers to care, lower self-efficacy for response to a sexually transmitted disease, greater perceived seriousness of sexually transmitted diseases, previous history of sexually transmitted diseases, and stigma. CONCLUSIONS: Improved secondary sexually transmitted disease prevention efforts among adolescents require reductions in barriers to care and improved symptom recognition by adolescents.

Full text

PDF
420

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Harrison R. M. Women's treatment decisions for genital symptoms. J R Soc Med. 1982 Jan;75(1):23–26. doi: 10.1177/014107688207500107. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Hillis S. D., Joesoef R., Marchbanks P. A., Wasserheit J. N., Cates W., Jr, Westrom L. Delayed care of pelvic inflammatory disease as a risk factor for impaired fertility. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1993 May;168(5):1503–1509. doi: 10.1016/s0002-9378(11)90790-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Kramer M. A., Aral S. O., Curran J. W. Self-reported behavior patterns of patients attending a sexually transmitted disease clinic. Am J Public Health. 1980 Sep;70(9):997–1000. doi: 10.2105/ajph.70.9.997. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Moses S., Ngugi E. N., Bradley J. E., Njeru E. K., Eldridge G., Muia E., Olenja J., Plummer F. A. Health care-seeking behavior related to the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases in Kenya. Am J Public Health. 1994 Dec;84(12):1947–1951. doi: 10.2105/ajph.84.12.1947. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Niemiec M. A., Chen S. P. Seeking clinic care for veneral disease: a study of teenagers. J Sch Health. 1978 Jan;48(1):681–686. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Offer D., Howard K. I., Schonert K. A., Ostrov E. To whom do adolescents turn for help? Differences between disturbed and nondisturbed adolescents. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 1991 Jul;30(4):623–630. doi: 10.1097/00004583-199107000-00015. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Spence M. R., Adler J., McLellan R. Pelvic inflammatory disease in the adolescent. J Adolesc Health Care. 1990 Jul;11(4):304–309. doi: 10.1016/0197-0070(90)90040-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Upchurch D. M., Brady W. E., Reichart C. A., Hook E. W., 3rd Behavioral contributions to acquisition of gonorrhea in patients attending an inner city sexually transmitted disease clinic. J Infect Dis. 1990 May;161(5):938–941. doi: 10.1093/infdis/161.5.938. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Windle M., Miller-Tutzauer C., Barnes G. M., Welte J. Adolescent perceptions of help-seeking resources for substance abuse. Child Dev. 1991 Feb;62(1):179–189. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.1991.tb01523.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Wølner-Hanssen P., Eschenbach D. A., Paavonen J., Stevens C. E., Kiviat N. B., Critchlow C., DeRouen T., Koutsky L., Holmes K. K. Association between vaginal douching and acute pelvic inflammatory disease. JAMA. 1990 Apr 11;263(14):1936–1941. doi: 10.1001/jama.1990.03440140062032. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from American Journal of Public Health are provided here courtesy of American Public Health Association

RESOURCES