Increasing Adolescent Sexual Activity Screening Through a Provider-Based Intervention

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Healthcare
• Adolescent Medicine
• Public Health

Background:

• Adolescent sexual activity necessitates comprehensive pediatric care, including sexual health screenings.
• Risky sexual behaviors in adolescents underscore the importance of accurate sexual health histories for disease prevention and management.
• Provider-focused strategies have demonstrated effectiveness in enhancing the delivery of preventive services like sexual health screenings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the impact of a provider education and electronic health record (EHR) modification initiative on adolescent sexual activity screening rates.
• To evaluate the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of this intervention in improving provider capacity for adolescent sexual health screenings.

Main Methods:

• A multi-site initiative involving four school-based health centers and one school-linked center.
• A biphasic intervention comprising education for advanced practice providers and EHR modifications.
• Retrospective medical chart review of 2,102 unique patients (ages 9-24) from 2018 to 2021 to compare pre- and post-intervention screening rates.

Main Results:

• Significant increases in screening rates for adolescent sexual activity were observed post-intervention (all p < .001).
• The likelihood of screening more than doubled compared to the year prior to the intervention.
• The intervention demonstrated a significant positive effect on provider willingness and ability to conduct screenings.

Conclusions:

• The provider education and EHR modification strategy is a feasible and cost-effective method to enhance adolescent sexual health screenings.
• This initiative successfully improved the rates of essential preventive sexual health services for adolescents within primary care settings.