title: Associations between health screening questions and sexual risk behaviors in adolescent female clinic patients: identifying a brief question format to yield critical information.
abstract: This study examines the ability of brief screening questions to identify adolescent girls at high risk for sexually transmitted infections and teen pregnancy. Participants included 103 sexually active 13-year-old to 17-year-old girls recruited from adolescent clinics who (1) were identified as at risk for negative sexual health outcomes through responses to an 8-item Health Screening Survey, and (2) returned to clinic within 2 weeks to complete a self-report survey about sexual risk behaviors and contraceptive use. Analyses examined relationships between girls' total screening scores, individual screening survey items, and 5 self-reported sexual risk behaviors. Higher screening scores correlated with lower levels of refusing unprotected sex and less consistent condom use (P < .05 and P < .01, respectively). High-risk responses to 2 screening items were associated with all 5 sexual risk behaviors. Findings suggest useful questions in routine clinical screening of sexually active adolescent girls to identify those at high levels of sexual risk.
authors.affiliation: Center for Adolescent Nursing, School of Nursing, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA. duke0028@umn.edu
authors.forename: Naomi N
authors.initials: NN
authors.lastname: Duke
authors.forename: Renee E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Sieving
authors.forename: Sandra L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Pettingell
authors.forename: Carol L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Skay
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D003267:Contraception / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening; D010865:Pilot Projects; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012307:Risk Factors; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012747:Sexual Partners; D012749:Sexually Transmitted Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires