Jm. Ellen et al., Are adolescents being screened for sexually transmitted diseases? A study of low-income African American adolescents in San Francisco, California, WEST J MED, 173(2), 2000, pp. 109-113
Objectives To determine the proportion of sexually experienced African Amer
ican adolescents who report having been screened for sexually transmitted d
iseases and to determine the proportion who report having been screened for
these diseases among adolescents who have had a preventive primary health
care visit in the past 2 years. . Methods A telephone survey of a populatio
n-based sample of African American adolescents aged 12 to 17 years residing
in a low-income neighborhood in San Francisco with a high prevalence of se
xually transmitted diseases. . Results Of the 302 adolescents surveyed, 118
(39.1%) reported a history of sexual intercourse. Of these, 17 (26.2%) of
65 males and 31 (58.5%) of 53 females had been screened for a sexually tran
smitted disease in the previous 12 months, Twenty (30.8%) of the males and
32 (60.4%) of the females had been screened for a sexually transmitted dise
ase in the previous 24 months. Of the 93 participants who had had a prevent
ive primary care visit since their first episode of sexual intercourse, 14
(26.4%) of the 53 males and 24 (60.0%) of the 40 females had been screened
for a sexually transmitted disease in the previous 24 months. . Conclusions
Sexually experienced African American adolescents in San Francisco are bei
ng screened for sexually transmitted diseases at rates well below those rec
ommended by current clinical guidelines. A low rate of screening was found
even in adolescents who had been seen for a preventive primary care visit s
ince they had first had sex. This suggests that the preventive primary care
visit Is not being used to its full potential as an opportunity to screen
and treat adolescents for sexually transmitted diseases. Capitalizing on th
is opportunity to screen may increase the number of cases of sexually trans
mitted diseases diagnosed and, thus, decrease rates of these diseases in th
is population.