Number of sexual partners and health lifestyle of adolescents. Use of the AMA Guidelines for Adolescent Preventive Services to address a basic research question
J. D. Fortenberry
Department of Pediatrics, Riley Children's Hospital, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, USA.
OBJECTIVE: To expand understanding of the behavioral epidemiology of an
important sexually transmitted disease risk factor within a clinical
framework of the AMA Guidelines for Adolescent Preventive Services (GAPS):
Recommendations and Rationale. DESIGN: Cross-sectional analysis of the
fourth year of a longitudinal study of adolescent health behavior. SETTING:
High schools in a single major urban school district. PARTICIPANTS: Nine
hundred and forty-six white, African American, and Hispanic sexually active
adolescents. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Number of sexual partners in previous
year and other health-risk and health-protective behaviors. Measures are
operationalized according to guidelines for adolescent preventive services
recommendations. RESULTS: Adolescents with 3 or more sexual partners
annually were more involved with potentially health-harming behaviors such
as illicit substance use and less involved with potentially
health-protective behaviors such as seat belt use. These relationships were
independent of sex, ethnic group, or socioeconomic status. CONCLUSIONS: The
number of sexual partners may be considered part of a larger pattern of
adolescent health-risk and health-protective behaviors. The guidelines may
provide a useful framework for clinical assessment of these patterns as
part of a routine health care visit of adolescent patients.
