Brown Research: Sexually Active Teens & Confidentiality
Wednesday, April 06, 2011
Unintentional teen pregnancy rates in the US are between 2 and 4 times as high as they are in the UK, France, and Sweden. In Rhode Island, the numbers are equally daunting: Almost one in ten (9%) of all babies born in Rhode Island in 2005 were born to teen mothers.
After reviewing existing studies concerning teen sexuality, a team of Rhode Island doctors and researchers associated with Brown University have concluded that that the US should offer confidential care for sexually active teenagers. Their findings have appeared in the journal SRM, Sexuality, Reproduction, and Menopause.
About half of American teens between the age of 15 and 19 report having sex at least once, and the majority (83% females, and 91% males) report using contraception. However, about 750,000 of those teens become pregnant each year.
A gap in effective information and counseling provided to teens
Given this high number of unintended pregnancies, it is clear that there is a gap in effective information and reproductive counseling provided to teens, researchers said. In order to be more effective, the study advises health care practitioners to honor adolescents’ need for confidentiality. Federal requirements do give privacy for teens, but confidentiality is not ensured in all situations. Only 40% of teens aged 12-17 sees their doctor alone, nationwide.
In their research of the literature on teen sexuality the team found unanimity: “All the medical societies, backgrounds, culture and statistics agree that young adults need a safe place to go for reproductive and sexual health care,” said Dr. Michelle Forcier, with Hasbro Children's Hospital Adolescent Health Center and an assistant professor of adolescent medicine at Brown’s Warren Alpert Medical School.
"Those are the teens who come back six months later with a positive pregnancy test."
“It’s hardest when a parent says ‘No, my daughter won’t have sex, and can’t have access to contraception,’” said Forcier. “Those are the teens that come back six months later with a positive pregnancy test.”
While the research encourages giving teens privacy, Forcier stressed “we are not encouraging secrets. The healthiest teens are able to talk about these issues with their parents.”
Teens may stop seeking health care, get tested for STDs, and seeking prenatal care
The research team said that unless teen/practitioner confidentiality is implemented, teens will stop seeking health care, stops getting tested for STDs, and stop seeking prenatal care if parental consent is required.
Lack of privacy does not change behavior, but changes the safety involved in this behavior. The paper cited a study that showed that if teens had to tell their parents in order to get a birth control prescription, they wouldn’t ask for one, but they would keep having sex.
No specific doctor responsible
Researchers concluded that teenagers need to be acknowledged as a special group, because talking to teens about their options does not fall to any specific doctor. Pediatricians deal with children, while general practitioners do not need to explain the basics to their parents. Forcier says that all medical providers should understand how to talk to teens in age-appropriate ways about their sexuality.
“Reproductive health and sexuality is part of our whole being, and our whole person,” she says, “and it’s crucially important in the teen years. It’s about who you are, who you’re attracted to, what you want to do, and who you want to have sex with. This is a part of becoming an adult.”
If you valued this article, please LIKE GoLocalProv.com on Facebook by clicking HERE.
