Sexual health problems of adolescents attending a sexual health service.
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether adolescents who present at a sexual health service aged 13 have more sexual health problems in later years than those who present aged 15.


METHODS
A case-note review was done in 2009 to identify sexual health problems for all 13-year-olds who registered with Sandyford sexual health service from April 2003 until December 2004 (group 1). This was compared with selected notes from adolescents who were 15 years old at the time of registration (group 2).


RESULTS
Eighty-eight youths aged 13 and 632 aged 15 registered in the aforementioned period. Ninety records of 15-year-olds were selected for comparison. Twenty two of the 86 girls in group 1 and 31 of the 87 girls in group 2 had at least one pregnancy. Twenty-one adolescents in group 1 and 25 of those in group 2 had a sexually transmitted infection. Thirteen youths in group 1 and one in group 2 had suffered a sexual assault.


CONCLUSIONS
Adolescents aged 13 at first registration with this service have more sexual health problems and warrant additional support throughout their teenage years. A very young age at first registration should prompt health professionals to provide additional clinical, emotional and social support.
Sandyford Initiative , Glasgow, Scotland, UK. christine.black@ggc.scot.nhs.uk
Christine
C
Black
Pauline
P
McGough
Fiona
F
Fargie
Beverley Wilson
BW
Brown
D000293:Adolescent; D003153:Community Health Services; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D011253:Pregnancy in Adolescence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D012749:Sexually Transmitted Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D055815:Young Adult