Perinatal Health Belief Scales. A cost-effective technique for predicting prenatal appointment keeping rates among pregnant teenagers.

This study was designed to test two different methods for predicting pregnant teenagers at risk for failing to keep appointments for comprehensive prenatal care. Sixty-three pregnant adolescents completed psychological questionnaires assessing depression, social support, and life events. They and their primary health care provider also completed the Perinatal Health Belief Scales (PHBS) measuring the respondent's perception of risk and need for services. Following their infant's birth, adolescents completed a measure of health care satisfaction. Chart reviews provided data regarding birth weight, gestational age, Apgar scores, and appointment-keeping information. The results suggest that adolescents who failed to keep the most appointments were likely to have significantly lower levels of concern regarding their risks during pregnancy than their primary health care provider. Adolescents were more likely to keep appointments if they expressed levels of concern on the PHBS that were similar to their health care provider. The psychological measures and PHBS when applied individually, were not successful in predicting those with the greatest likelihood for nonadherence to appointments.