Contraceptive use among female adolescents.
Teenage pregnancy continues to be a problem in the United States despite the availability of reliable contraceptive methods. A pilot study was conducted to determine the use of reliable contraception by teenagers following an abortion or negative pregnancy test. The results indicated that 96.6% of the teenagers experiencing a therapeutic abortion and 49.6% of the teens having a negative pregnancy test reported choosing reliable contraception after the procedure or the test. At a subsequent clinic visit, however, only 27.5% in the abortion group and 5.7% in the negative pregnancy test group reported use of reliable contraception. Further research is needed to identify factors involved in teenagers' use or nonuse of contraception.
Hewell
S W
SW
Andrews
J L
JL
D000029:Abortion, Legal; D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D003268:Contraception Behavior; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011247:Pregnancy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires