Pespectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health
Volume 34, Number 5, September/October 2002

 

Preventing Pregnancy and Improving Health Care Access Among Teenagers:
An Evaluation Of the Children's Aid Society-Carrera Program
TABLES

TABLE 1. Percentage distribution of participants in an evaluation of the CAS-Carrera pregnancy prevention program, by selectd baseline characteristics, according to gender and group assignment, New York City, February-April 1997
Characteristic All Female Male
Program Control Program Control Program Control
(N=242) (N=242) (N=130) (N=138) (N=112) (N=104)
Age
13 39 32 36 27 43 38
14 37 38 35 41 39 34
15 24 30 29 32 18 28
Race/ethnicity
Black 60 52 60 53 59 52
Hispanic 39 45 39 46 39 44
Other 1 3 1 1 2 4
Socioeconomic indicators
Lives with employed adult and receives no entitlements 39 35 39 40 39 29
Lives with unemployed adult or receives entitlements 40 41 40 37 40 45
Lives with unemployed adult and receives entitlements 21 24 21 23 21 26
Living arrangement
Both parents 35 33 31 35 43 31
Single parent 52 58 57 58 45 59
Neither parent 13 9 12 7 13 10
No. of parental risk factors†
0 53 50 53 47 52 52
1 28 33 28 33 28 34
>=2 19 17 19 20 20 14
Previous participation in site's activities
Yes 43 46 35 41 51 53
No 57 54 65 59 49 47
Has paid job
Yes 32 35 28 31 37 39
No 68 65 72 69 63 61
Had health checkup in last year
Yes 85 86 83 86 88 85
No 15 14 17 14 12 15
Ever had sex
Yes 26 25 15 20 38 33
No 74 75 85 80 62 67
Total 100 100 100 100 100 100
†These factors, reported by the adolescents, included substance abuse, domestic violence, unemployment, illness, incarceration and depression.

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TABLE 2. Average number of hours teenagers spent in fall and spring program activities over three years, by selected characteristics, according to gender
Characteristic Total Female Male
Gender
Male 243 na 243
Female 242 242 na
Age
13 266 282 250
14 240 212 270
15 209 225* 182
Race/ethnicity
Black 244 256 231
Hispanic 242 225 262
No. of social barriers at baseline†
0-1 248 237 263
2 257 267 245
>=3 209 216 203
No. of delinquent behaviors at baseline‡
0 243 233 259
1 238 240 234
>=2 248 263 238
Had sex before enrollment
Yes 178 203** 167
No 262 247 285
*p<.05. **p<.01. †Social barriers include having friends who engaged in three or more delinquent behaviors; having parents who had experienced two or more of the selected problems listed in Table 1; having a poor relationship with one's mother; living in an unsafe neighborhood; having no relationship with a church or faith center; and living in a household of low socioeconomic status. ‡Delinquent behaviors include participating in physical fights, carrying a weapon, using a weapon, stealing, being arrested and damaging school property. Notes: p-values denote significant differences by gender. na=not applicable.

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TABLE 3. Change in knowledge, and percentage of teenagers reporting selected sexual, reproductive and health care outcomes, all over three years, by gender and group assignment
Outcome All Females Males
Program Control Program Control Program Control
Change in knowledge
% increase in correct responses to knowledge questionnaire 22 11*** 25 14*** 18 6***
Sexual and reproductive
Chose not to have sex under pressure† na na 75 36* na na
Ever had sex 63 72* 54 66* 73 79
Used condom and hormonal method at last sex† 21 20 36 20* 9 20*
Used condom at last sex† 86 83 84 75 88 92
Became pregnant or caused pregnancy 10 17* 10 22** 11 10
Gave birth‡ or became a father 4 6 3 10* 4 1
Health care
Received care from setting other than emergency room 94 83*** 98 91* 90 72***
Had medical checkup in last year 90 86 92 88 88 85
Received social assessment at last checkup 58 42*** 52 50 65 32***
Had hepatitis B vaccination 86 74** 90 79* 80 67*
Had dental checkup in last year 58 64 61 63 54 64
Received 4 or 5 of above services 69 54*** 74 61* 64 45**
Made a reproductive health visit in last year† 81 65** 90 83 74 46***
*p< 05. **p<.01. ***p<.001. †Asked of sexually experienced adolescents only. ‡These include two program and two control females who, at the time of their interview, were in their third trimester and intended to carry to term. Note: na=not applicable.

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TABLE 4. Odds ratios from logistic regression analyses showing the effects of selected variables on sexual, reproductive and health care outcomes over three years, by gender
Variable Became pregnant or caused pregnancy Used condom and hormonal method at last sex Currently having sex Had 4 or 5of desirable health care outcomes †
Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male
Group assignment
Program 0.31** 1.17 2.37* 0.47 0.52* 0.60 2.00* 2.08*
Control (ref) 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00
Had sex before enrollment
Yes 7.45*** 4.13** 0.48 0.60 18.39** 24.08** na na
No (ref) 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 na na
Use of health care before enrollment
Yes‡ na na na na na na 1.71** 1.86**
No (ref) na na na na na na 1.00 1.00
Age 1.92* 1.91* 1.32 1.72 1.70** 1.97* 0.92 0.83
Race/ethnicity
Black 0.48 1.47 1.03 0.63 1.15 2.41* 1.98* 0.84
Hispanic (ref) 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00
No. of social barriers 1.04 1.60 0.76 1.28& 1.54** 1.44& 1.09& 1.05
*p<.05. **p<.01. ***p<.001. †These five outcomes are having received medical care in a setting other than an emergency room; having had a medical checkup in the last year; having been given a social assessment at that checkup; having had a hepatitis B vaccination; and having had a dental checkup in the last year. ‡Denotes adolescents who reported not using the emergency room for primary care, having had a medical checkup in the last year and having had a dental checkup in the last year. Notes: ref=reference category. na=not applicable, because we did not consider it appropriate to include the "sex before enrollment" variable in the equation predicting health care outcomes, or the "health care before enrollment" variable in the equations predicting the reproductive outcomes.

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