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Pregnant adolescents at risk: sexual behaviors and sexually transmitted disease prevalence.
American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 2003;188(1):63-70.
Niccolai LM, Ethier KA, Kershaw TS, Lewis JB, Ickovics JR.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine the level of high-risk
sexual behaviors and the prevalence of chlamydia and gonorrhea among pregnant
adolescents. STUDY DESIGN: These analyses used data from 203 pregnant and
209 nonpregnant adolescents who were recruited from public health clinics.
Data sources included interviewer-administered questionnaires, ligase chain
reaction tests for chlamydia/gonorrhea in the third trimester of pregnancy,
and state health department reports of chlamydia/gonorrhea. Statistical analyses
included logistic regression. RESULTS: Pregnant adolescents were significantly
more likely to have not used condoms during sexual intercourse in the past
30 days compared with nonpregnant adolescents, although other sexual risk
behaviors were reduced. Nineteen percent of pregnant adolescents had chlamydia
or gonorrhea diagnosed during the pregnancy. CONCLUSION: Pregnant adolescents
have high levels of sexually transmitted diseases during pregnancy, and many
adolescents use condoms inconsistently. Prenatal care providers may be in
a unique position to decrease sexually transmitted diseases among pregnant
adolescents by encouraging the reduction of risk behaviors and aggressively
screening for sexually transmitted diseases as part of routine prenatal care.