School-based health centers and the decline in Black teen fertility during the 1990s in Denver, Colorado

S.A. Ricketts and B.P. Guernsey

American Journal of Public Health, 2006, vol. 96, issue 9, 1588-1592

Abstract: 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.

Date: 2006
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2004.059816_6

DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2004.059816

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