Caring for Hospitalized Adolescents: Opportunities to Identify and Address Unmet Reproductive Health Needs

摘要

Adolescents in the U.S. experience disproportionately high rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and unplanned pregnancy compared with other industrialized countries, in part due to unmet reproductive health needs [1-4] Nearly 90% of adolescent pregnancies are unplanned, and 29% end in abortion [5]. Rates of STIs among adolescents remain high and are increasing, with nearly one in four females testing positive for an STI annually [4,6]. In addition, 51% of adolescents in the U.S. are not fully vaccinated against the human papillomavirus (HPV) and adolescents have higher rates of missed opportunities for HPV vaccination than other vaccines [7-9]. Improving access to and uptake of reproductive health services remains a national public health priority to avoid these negative health consequences and related health care costs [10-13]. However, despite guidelines published by the American Academy of Pediatrics, Society of Adolescent Health and Medicine, and others, as well as policy statements advocating for improved provision of comprehensive reproductive care for adolescents at every clinical encounter [11,13,14], access to this care remains lacking.