Abstract
Although the potential of school-based programs in the prevention of adolescent pregnancy is well recognized, few have been evaluated. This paper describes the use of a reproductive health care clinic associated with a school pregnancy prevention program which had demonstrated success. The program operated in one junior and one senior high school in a large city during the 3 school years from 1981 to 1984. Three facets of the 818 users of the program clinic are explored: who enrolled in the clinic, why they enrolled and what contraceptive methods they received, and their continuation with the clinic. Chi-square analysis and Student's t-tests were used to test for significant differences between the two school and sex groups. Life table and regression techniques were employed to examine clinic continuation. The main findings are teens of both sexes used the clinic, and junior high males used it in surprisingly large numbers; there were no major school or sex differences in the characteristics of those who enrolled; most students enrolled to obtain a contraceptive method; although many females served by the clinic had previously used another family planning clinic, the majority of them had unmet needs; the rate of clinic continuation was high; and certain factors contributed to clinic continuation. These findings suggest that a clinic in a school-linked setting can successfully attract students to use its services and it may offer certain advantages for reaching sexually active teens in search of contraceptive protection.
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Dryfoos J. School-based health clinics: a new approach to preventing adolescent pregnancy? Fam Plann Perspect. 1985 Mar-Apr;17(2):70–75. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Edwards L. E., Steinman M. E., Arnold K. A., Hakanson E. Y. Adolescent contraceptive use: experience in 1,762 teenagers. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1980 Jul 1;137(5):583–587. doi: 10.1016/0002-9378(80)90700-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Edwards L. E., Steinman M. E., Arnold K. A., Hakanson E. Y. Adolescent pregnancy prevention services in high school clinics. Fam Plann Perspect. 1980 Jan-Feb;12(1):6-7,11-4. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Jones J. B., Namerow P. B., Philliber S. Adolescents' Use of a hospital-based contraceptive program. Fam Plann Perspect. 1982 Jul-Aug;14(4):224-5, 229-31. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Shea J. A., Herceg-Baron R., Furstenberg F. F., Jr Factors associated with adolescent use of family planning clinics. Am J Public Health. 1984 Nov;74(11):1227–1230. doi: 10.2105/ajph.74.11.1227. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Zabin L. S., Clark S. D., Jr Why they delay: a study of teenage family planning clinic patients. Fam Plann Perspect. 1981 Sep-Oct;13(5):205-7, 211-7. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Zabin L. S., Hardy J. B., Streett R., King T. M. A school-, hospital- and university-based adolescent pregnancy prevention program. A cooperative design for service and research. J Reprod Med. 1984 Jun;29(6):421–426. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Zabin L. S., Hirsch M. B., Smith E. A., Streett R., Hardy J. B. Adolescent pregnancy-prevention program. A model for research and evaluation. J Adolesc Health Care. 1986 Mar;7(2):77–87. doi: 10.1016/s0197-0070(86)80001-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Zabin L. S., Hirsch M. B., Smith E. A., Streett R., Hardy J. B. Evaluation of a pregnancy prevention program for urban teenagers. Fam Plann Perspect. 1986 May-Jun;18(3):119–126. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]