Sue A Ricketts1, Bruce P Guernsey. 1. Prevention Services Division of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Denver, Colo 80246, USA.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: We examined the changes in Black adolescent fertility rates in high-school areas with school-based health centers and compared them over time with changes in rates in high-school areas without school-based health centers. METHODS: Fertility rates were estimated for high-school areas with and without school-based health centers with geocoded birth certificate and school enrollment data. RESULTS: A high adolescent fertility rate (165 births/1000) in 1992 among Black students in Denver high-school areas with school-based health centers declined to a low rate (38/1000) in 1997 that matched the rate of school areas that did not have school-based health centers. Rates declined for both types of areas over the study period, but the rate of decline in the areas with school-based health centers was significantly greater (77% vs 56%). CONCLUSIONS: The rapid and significant decline in Black adolescent fertility in school areas with school-based health centers strongly suggests that attending to the health needs of students at risk of pregnancy resulted in a radically lowered risk of fertility. The decline is likely the result of strategies to identify, intervene, and follow-up on students engaging in behaviors that place them at risk for unintended pregnancy.
OBJECTIVES: We examined the changes in Black adolescent fertility rates in high-school areas with school-based health centers and compared them over time with changes in rates in high-school areas without school-based health centers. METHODS: Fertility rates were estimated for high-school areas with and without school-based health centers with geocoded birth certificate and school enrollment data. RESULTS: A high adolescent fertility rate (165 births/1000) in 1992 among Black students in Denver high-school areas with school-based health centers declined to a low rate (38/1000) in 1997 that matched the rate of school areas that did not have school-based health centers. Rates declined for both types of areas over the study period, but the rate of decline in the areas with school-based health centers was significantly greater (77% vs 56%). CONCLUSIONS: The rapid and significant decline in Black adolescent fertility in school areas with school-based health centers strongly suggests that attending to the health needs of students at risk of pregnancy resulted in a radically lowered risk of fertility. The decline is likely the result of strategies to identify, intervene, and follow-up on students engaging in behaviors that place them at risk for unintended pregnancy.
Authors: Simon Denny; Elizabeth Robinson; Catriona Lawler; Sue Bagshaw; Bridget Farrant; Fionna Bell; Dianne Dawson; Diana Nicholson; Mo Hart; Theresa Fleming; Shanthi Ameratunga; Terryann Clark; Maria Kekus; Jennifer Utter Journal: Am J Public Health Date: 2012-08-16 Impact factor: 9.308
Authors: John A Knopf; Ramona K C Finnie; Yinan Peng; Robert A Hahn; Benedict I Truman; Mary Vernon-Smiley; Veda C Johnson; Robert L Johnson; Jonathan E Fielding; Carles Muntaner; Pete C Hunt; Camara Phyllis Jones; Mindy T Fullilove Journal: Am J Prev Med Date: 2016-07 Impact factor: 5.043