School-Based Health Centers and the Decline in Black Teen Fertility During the 1990s in Denver, Colorado

Dados Bibliográficos

ID11035196
AutoresSue A Ricketts (The authors are with the Prevention Services Division of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Denver, Colo.), Sue Ricketts (Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment), Bruce P Guernsey (The authors are with the Prevention Services Division of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Denver, Colo.)
Ano2006
Volume96
Fascículo9
Páginas1588-1592
Data de publicação2006-09-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoAmerican Journal of Public Health (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0090-0036 • E-ISSN: 1541-0048
EditoraAmerican Public Health Association (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2105/ajph.2004.059816
PMID16873755
PMCIDPMC1551953
OpenAlexW1975705520
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas4
Referências citadas14

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

Adolescent health · Birth certificate · Birth rate · Environmental health · Family planning · Fertility · Population · Pregnancy · Public health · Sociology · Total fertility rate · Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health · Demography · Family Dynamics and Relationships · Global Maternal and Child Health · Medicine · Nursing · Gerontology