Sue A. Ricketts ^1* Bruce P. Guernsey ¹

¹ Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: sue.ricketts{at}state.co.us.

	Abstract

Objectives. We examined the changes in Black adolescent fertility rates in highschool 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.

Key Words: Birth Control, Adolescent Health, Access to Care, Birth Outcomes, Public Health Practice, African Americans/Blacks

This article has been cited by other articles:

				M. Silberberg and J. C. Cantor Making the Case for School-Based Health: Where Do We Stand? Journal of Health Politics Policy and Law, January 1, 2008; 33(1): 3 - 37. [Abstract] [PDF]

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