title: Unplanned pregnancy among active-duty Army females as a readiness issue.
abstract: Unplanned pregnancy creates significant problems for active-duty female soldiers and also elicits concern among military leaders when planning for mobilization. The purpose of this three-group comparative survey is to ascertain probable reasons for unplanned pregnancy occurrence that will be useful in developing appropriate interventions directed at decreasing the incidence of such pregnancies. Active-duty female soldiers (n = 112) in-processing at a large military installation responded to a 41-item questionnaire focused on respondents' reproductive histories, beliefs and knowledge about contraception, and contraceptive use. Descriptive statistics, the Kruskal-Wallis One-Way Analysis of Variance, and Chi-Square non-parametric statistical tests were used for analysis of the data. Findings revealed that when compared to the two post-adolescent groups, the adolescent female soldiers reported: (a) a greater number of sexual partners, (b) greater frequency of intercourse, (c) less knowledge about the reproductive cycle, and (d) greater non-use of any birth control method.
authors.affiliation: Army Nurse Corps, Ft. Gordon, GA 30905.
authors.forename: L A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Borsay-Trindle
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Pass
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Gilzean
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003268:Contraception Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008889:Military Personnel; D011247:Pregnancy