Original article
Adolescents report their need for and use of health care services

https://doi.org/10.1016/S1054-139X(97)00167-5Get rights and content

Purpose:

The goals of this study were to describe student access to health care services, identify populations of students who remained in need of health care services, and highlight particular unmet needs for health care identified by these adolescents.

Methods:

Students in Grades 9–12 attending 50 schools in Oregon completed the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey (YRBS). Questions requesting adolescents to report their need for specific types of health care, and access to general and specific types of care were added to the core YRBS. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to determine independent relationships between student or community characteristics and health care access or unmet needs for care.

Results:

Almost 14, 000 adolescents completed surveys, of whom 75% reported visiting one or more health care provider within the last 12 months. Nineteen percent of adolescents reported that they had not received 1 or more of 10 specific types of care when needed in the last year. Females, some racial/ethnic minorities, rural, and sexually active adolescents were more likely to report unmet needs for health care. Most frequently, adolescents reported they needed but did not receive care for an illness (7%) or for personal or emotional problems (6%). In addition, about 400 (3%) students reported they needed birth control that they did not receive.

Conclusions:

A majority of high school-age adolescents had visited health care providers within the year prior to study. However, the number of adolescents who reported unmet specific health care needs within the same time period remained substantial.

References (31)

  • MillsteinSG

    Adolescent health: Challenges for behavioral scientists

    Am Psychol

    (1989)
  • Society for Adolescent Medicine

    Access to health care for adolescents: A Position Paper

    J Adolesc Health

    (1992)
  • FisherM et al.

    Meeting the health care needs of suburban youth: Review of a clinical service

    Pediatrics

    (1988)
  • IgraV et al.

    Current status and approaches to improving preventive services for adolescents

    JAMA

    (1993)
  • Cited by (0)

    Support for this project was provided by the Department of Human Resources, Oregon Health Division, Child Health Section; Project MCJ no. 413A29 from the Office of Adolescent Health, Maternal, and Child Health Program (Title V, Social Security Act), Health Resources and Services Administration, Department of Health and Human Services; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; the Oregon Department of Education; and Oregon Health Sciences University, Biomedical Information Communication Center, Section of Outcomes Research and Health Informatics.

    View full text