Pediatric Resident Perspectives on Long-Acting Reversible Contraception Training: A Cross-Sectional Survey of Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education Trainees.

2023

964-971

06/2023

1879-1972

PURPOSE: Although pediatricians are primary care providers for most adolescents, pediatric residents receive limited training on long-acting reversible contraceptive (LARC) methods. This study aimed to characterize pediatric resident comfort with placing contraceptive implants and intrauterine devices (IUDs) and assess pediatric resident interest in obtaining this training.

METHODS: Pediatric residents in the United States were invited to participate in a survey assessing comfort with LARC methods and interest in LARC training during pediatric residency. Bivariate comparisons used Chi-square and Wilcoxon rank sum testing. Multivariate logistic regression was used to assess associations between primary outcomes and covariates including geographic region, training level, and career plans.

RESULTS: Six hundred twenty seven pediatric residents across the United States completed the survey. Participants were predominantly female (68.4%, n = 429), self-identified their race as White (66.1%, n = 412), and anticipated a career in a subspecialty other than Adolescent Medicine (53.0%, n = 326). Most residents were confident counseling patients on the risks and benefits, side effects, and effective use of contraceptive implants (55.6%, n = 344) and both hormonal and nonhormonal IUDs (53.0%, n = 324). Few residents reported comfort with inserting contraceptive implants (13.6%, n = 84) or IUDs (6.3%, n = 39), with most of these respondents having learned these skills as a medical student. Most participants believed that residents should receive training on insertion of contraceptive implants (72.3%, n = 447) and IUDs (62.5%, n = 374).

DISCUSSION: Although most pediatric residents believe LARC training should be a component of pediatric residency training, few pediatric residents are comfortable with provision of this care.

10.1016/j.jadohealth.2023.01.016

J Adolesc Health

36907801

Pediatric Resident Perspectives on Long-Acting Reversible Contraception Training: A Cross-Sectional Survey of Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education Trainees.

2023

964-971

06/2023

1879-1972

PURPOSE: Although pediatricians are primary care providers for most adolescents, pediatric residents receive limited training on long-acting reversible contraceptive (LARC) methods. This study aimed to characterize pediatric resident comfort with placing contraceptive implants and intrauterine devices (IUDs) and assess pediatric resident interest in obtaining this training.

METHODS: Pediatric residents in the United States were invited to participate in a survey assessing comfort with LARC methods and interest in LARC training during pediatric residency. Bivariate comparisons used Chi-square and Wilcoxon rank sum testing. Multivariate logistic regression was used to assess associations between primary outcomes and covariates including geographic region, training level, and career plans.

RESULTS: Six hundred twenty seven pediatric residents across the United States completed the survey. Participants were predominantly female (68.4%, n = 429), self-identified their race as White (66.1%, n = 412), and anticipated a career in a subspecialty other than Adolescent Medicine (53.0%, n = 326). Most residents were confident counseling patients on the risks and benefits, side effects, and effective use of contraceptive implants (55.6%, n = 344) and both hormonal and nonhormonal IUDs (53.0%, n = 324). Few residents reported comfort with inserting contraceptive implants (13.6%, n = 84) or IUDs (6.3%, n = 39), with most of these respondents having learned these skills as a medical student. Most participants believed that residents should receive training on insertion of contraceptive implants (72.3%, n = 447) and IUDs (62.5%, n = 374).

DISCUSSION: Although most pediatric residents believe LARC training should be a component of pediatric residency training, few pediatric residents are comfortable with provision of this care.

10.1016/j.jadohealth.2023.01.016

J Adolesc Health

36907801

Contraceptive counseling for adolescents in the emergency department: A novel curriculum for nurse practitioners and physician assistants.

2023

02/2023

2327-6924

Many adolescents use the emergency department (ED) as their primary source of health care. As a result, the ED serves as a unique opportunity to reach adolescents. Although many adolescent visits to the ED are related to reproductive health, ED providers report barriers to providing this care, including lack of training. Nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs) serve a vital role in the provision of consistent care to adolescents in the ED. The purpose of this study was to create a curriculum to train NPs and PAs at two pediatric institutions to provide patient-centered contraceptive counseling to adolescents in the pediatric ED regardless of their chief complaint. To do this, we created a four-part webinar followed by an in-person training session. Participants completed training and then conducted counseling sessions with adolescents in the ED. Counseling sessions were recorded and reviewed for fidelity to delineated counseling principles, and data from post-counseling surveys were collected. 27 NPs and PAs completed the training and conducted 99 counseling sessions. Nearly all sessions incorporated essential content and communication principles such as shared decision making (90%) and teach-back methods (75%). All NPs and PAs who participated reported satisfaction and subjective improvement in knowledge and competence from the training. This curriculum offers a novel and feasible approach to train NPs and PAs to deliver patient-centered contraception counseling to adolescents in the ED setting, and it can serve as a model for how to educate different providers to incorporate reproductive health education into the busy ED visit.

10.1097/JXX.0000000000000824

J Am Assoc Nurse Pract

36735568

Identifying Opportunities to Discuss Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis During Contraceptive Coaching Discussions With Urban Adolescent Women.

2021

2021 Jun 05

1879-1972

<p><strong>PURPOSE: </strong>HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) reduces HIV transmission and is approved for adolescents aged 12-17 years. Adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) have modest PrEP uptake rates, while many receive reproductive health counseling. We sought to identify opportunities for incorporating PrEP education in contraceptive counseling delivered to AGYW.</p>

<p><strong>METHODS: </strong>We performed a secondary analysis of data from the Health Coaching for Contraceptive Continuation pilot study, which supported contraceptive use among AGYW. Participants were 14-22 years old, sexually active with males, and not desiring pregnancy within 12 months. Coaches were sexual health educators with ≥5&nbsp;years' experience providing contraceptive and PrEP counseling to youth. Participants completed a baseline visit within 30 days of contraceptive initiation and completed up to five monthly coaching sessions. Of 33 enrollees, this analysis includes the 21 who completed ≥4 sessions. Two coders deductively coded session transcripts for five themes: opportunities to discuss PrEP; HIV knowledge, risk perception, and testing attitudes; changes in HIV risk status; condom use knowledge and skills; and sexually transmitted infection knowledge and risk perception.</p>

<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>Of the 111 transcripts coded, 24 contained opportunities to discuss PrEP and were inductively analyzed. Thematic analysis demonstrated three types of opportunities for PrEP discussions: failure to introduce information, and provision of incomplete information or misinformation. Analysis also revealed four opportunity contexts: sexually transmitted infection prevention strategies, HIV risk reduction, avoidance of adverse sexual health outcomes, and disclosures of condom nonprotected sexual behaviors. Only one transcript mentioned PrEP.</p>

<p><strong>CONCLUSIONS: </strong>Multiple opportunities to introduce PrEP counseling exist within contraceptive counseling provided to AGYW.</p>

10.1016/j.jadohealth.2021.04.031

J Adolesc Health

34103237

Facilitators and Barriers to Implementation of Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptive Services for Adolescent Girls and Young Women in Gaborone, Botswana.

2021

2021 Mar 22

1873-4332

<p><strong>STUDY OBJECTIVE: </strong>Botswana has a high pregnancy rate among adolescent girls and young women (AGYW). Long-acting reversible contraceptive (LARC) use among AGYW in Botswana is low, despite its high effectiveness for preventing pregnancy. Using an implementation science framework, we assessed barriers and facilitators to LARC implementation among AGYW in Botswana.</p>

<p><strong>DESIGN: </strong>Cross-sectional mixed methods.</p>

<p><strong>SETTING: </strong>Gaborone, Botswana.</p>

<p><strong>PARTICIPANTS: </strong>20 sexually active AGYW ages 18-24; 20 health system stakeholders.</p>

<p><strong>INTERVENTIONS: </strong>Surveys and semi-structured interviews grounded in the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR).</p>

<p><strong>MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: </strong>Themes reflecting barriers and facilitators of LARC implementation.</p>

<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>The median age for AGYW was 22 (IQR 21-23). Twenty percent were using an implant and none had ever used an intrauterine device. Barriers and facilitators to LARC implementation spanned factors at each CFIR domain: 1) LARC characteristics like side effects; 2) the clinics' inner settings, including availability of youth-friendly services; 3) characteristics of health system stakeholders, such as LARC skills, and AGYW experiences, attitudes and beliefs about LARCs; 4) the outer setting external to clinics and Botswana's health system including reproductive health law and policy for minor adolescents; and 5) the implementation process level such as the availability of free or low-cost LARCs.</p>

<p><strong>CONCLUSIONS: </strong>We identified multi-level, context-specific factors that affect LARC implementation. Our findings can inform the development of interventions to increase LARC implementation in Botswana by addressing intersecting factors across patient, clinic, health system, and sociopolitical levels, such as providing confidential services to minors and improving LARC training and supply chain pipelines.</p>

10.1016/j.jpag.2021.03.005

J Pediatr Adolesc Gynecol

33766793

Effect of Prior Adverse Reproductive Health Outcomes on Young Women's Engagement in a Health Coaching Intervention to Improve Contraceptive Continuation.

2021

2021 Feb 08

1873-4332

<p><strong>OBJECTIVE: </strong>Nonadherence in sexual risk reduction interventions may be common among adolescents. We compared intervention completion rates among adolescent and young adult women with and without a prior pregnancy or sexually transmitted infection (STI) participating in a program to improve contraceptive continuation.</p>

<p><strong>DESIGN: </strong>Secondary data analysis from a feasibility study of a health coaching intervention to improve contraceptive continuation.</p>

<p><strong>SETTING: </strong>Three urban pediatric clinics in Philadelphia.</p>

<p><strong>PARTICIPANTS: </strong>Women ages 14-22 years who were English-speaking, sexually active in the past year, not desiring pregnancy in the next year, and starting a new contraceptive method.</p>

<p><strong>INTERVENTIONS: </strong>At baseline, participants completed a sociodemographic questionnaire and semi-structured interview, followed by five monthly coaching sessions. Interviews and coaching sessions were audio-recorded, transcribed, and coded for thematic content.</p>

<p><strong>MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: </strong>Intervention completion was defined as the number of completed coaching sessions.</p>

<p><strong>SECONDARY OUTCOMES: </strong>Qualitatively explored group differences in reproductive knowledge, attitudes, and risk perception.</p>

<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>Participants with a prior adverse outcome (a prior STI and/or a prior pregnancy) completed fewer coaching sessions than those without such history (median: 2 vs. 4, p=0.03). Both groups had low HIV/STI knowledge, negative attitudes towards pregnancy, and low HIV/STI risk perception. Those with a prior adverse reproductive outcome held more negative attitudes towards condoms.</p>

<p><strong>CONCLUSION: </strong>Despite similar reproductive knowledge, attitudes, and risk perception, young women who have experienced an adverse reproductive outcome may be less likely to fully engage in sexual risk reduction interventions. Future studies should confirm these findings and consider strategies to optimize interventions reach for vulnerable youth.</p>

10.1016/j.jpag.2021.02.003

J Pediatr Adolesc Gynecol

33571659

Evolving the Preconception Health Framework: A Call for Reproductive and Sexual Health Equity.

2021

234-239

2021 Feb 01

1873-233X

<p>Over the past decade, increasing attention has been paid to intervening in individuals' health in the "preconception" period as an approach to optimizing pregnancy outcomes. Increasing attention to the structural and social determinants of health and to the need to prioritize reproductive autonomy has underscored the need to evolve the preconception health framework to center race equity and to engage with the historical and social context in which reproduction and reproductive health care occur. In this commentary, we describe the results of a meeting with a multidisciplinary group of maternal and child health experts, reproductive health researchers and practitioners, and Reproductive Justice leaders to define a new approach for clinical and public health systems to engage with the health of nonpregnant people. We describe a novel "Reproductive and Sexual Health Equity" framework, defined as an approach to comprehensively meet people's reproductive and sexual health needs, with explicit attention to structural influences on health and health care and grounded in a desire to achieve the highest level of health for all people and address inequities in health outcomes. Principles of the framework include centering the needs of and redistributing power to communities, having clinical and public health systems acknowledge historical and ongoing harms related to reproductive and sexual health, and addressing root causes of inequities. We conclude with a call to action for a multisectoral effort centered in equity to advance reproductive and sexual health across the reproductive life course.</p>

10.1097/AOG.0000000000004255

Obstet Gynecol

33416289

Preconception and Interconception Pediatric Primary Care Utilization of Pregnant and Parenting Teens.

2021

2021 Jan 19

1879-1972

<p><strong>PURPOSE: </strong>Gaps in preventive care may contribute to adverse outcomes among pregnant teens. This study quantified teen preventive care utilization before and after pregnancy.</p>

<p><strong>METHODS: </strong>A continuous retrospective cohort identified 150 teens with a positive pregnancy test (July 2015 to May 2017) at two pediatric primary care sites. Chart review assessed office visits for 18&nbsp;months before and after the pregnancy test. We also assessed contraceptive counseling, pregnancy outcomes (live birth, miscarriage, termination), and continuity with a single clinician. Demographic factors included age, race, ethnicity, primary insurance, and residential zip code. Logistic regression identified factors associated with visits after pregnancy. Separately, for a cohort&nbsp;of 47 parenting teens who received primary care at the same site as their infants, we assessed teen-infant care after birth.</p>

<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>Teens were predominantly non-Latina black (91%) and Medicaid insured (71%). Before pregnancy, most teens had preventive visits (66%) and reported contraceptive use (65%). After pregnancy, 52% discussed pregnancy decisions within a month, 55% reported contraceptive use, and 64% had any primary care visit. Postpregnancy visits were associated with teen age (&lt;18 vs.&nbsp;≥18&nbsp;years odds ratio 2.84, 95% confidence interval 1.17-6.90) and pregnancy outcome (termination vs. live birth odds ratio 4.02, 95% confidence interval 1.47-11.01). Among parenting teens, there were more infant visits than teen visits, and continuity was higher for infants.</p>

<p><strong>CONCLUSION: </strong>In a primary care cohort of pregnant teens, gaps persisted in pediatric clinical follow-up after pregnancy. Particularly in situations where pregnancy led to a birth, pregnancy frequently prompted a transition away from pediatric care.</p>

10.1016/j.jadohealth.2020.12.132

J Adolesc Health

33483235

What's Known and What's Next: Contraceptive Counseling and Support for Adolescents and Young Adult Women.

2020

2020 Dec 14

1873-4332

<p>The low rates of actual contraceptive failure and high rates of contraceptive use among young women highlights that choice of contraceptive method and patterns of contraceptive use greatly influence unintended pregnancy risk. Promoting contraceptive use among adolescent and young adult women requires supportive health systems and health providers who understand this population's evolving developmental needs. It also requires an awareness of effective tools for counseling patients, while being mindful of the power dynamics operational during clinical encounters to avoid inadvertent, coercive interpersonal dynamics. Missed opportunities to provide such patient centered care can lead to unplanned pregnancies and suboptimal health and social consequences for young women. Unfortunately, health providers often lack the tools and resources to appropriately identify and meet individual young women's contraceptive needs. This paper summarizes the evidence supporting contraceptive counseling strategies linked with contraceptive initiation among young women, and evidence-based approaches for supporting contraceptive adherence and continuation after method initiation. It also orients readers to the unique neurodevelopmental factors that influence the shared-decision making process during contraception counseling sessions with young women. New and emerging approaches for supporting contraceptive initiation, adherence and continuation are reviewed.</p>

10.1016/j.jpag.2020.12.008

J Pediatr Adolesc Gynecol

33333260

Racial/ethnic disparities in female sexual health from adolescence to young adulthood: how adolescent characteristics matter?

2020

2020 Nov 20

1873-4332

<p><strong>STUDY OBJECTIVE: </strong>To describe sexual initiation pattern in female adolescents and examine its association with adolescent characteristics and racial disparities in adverse sexual health across adolescence into early adulthood.</p>

<p><strong>DESIGN: </strong>A prospective, longitudinal, observational study from adolescence to adulthood.</p>

<p><strong>SETTING: </strong>Nationally representative, the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health data, ranged 24-32 years old at final assessment.</p>

<p><strong>PARTICIPANTS: </strong>43,577 US females in 1994-2008.</p>

<p><strong>INTERVENTIONS AND MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: </strong>Adolescent sex related characteristics in individual-family-school peer level were accessed, and multiple sex partners, STIs/HIV, and inter-partner violence (IPV) were longitudinally tracked. The sexual initiation pattern and its longitudinal association with sexual health were analyzed using latent class analysis and Mixed-effects Poisson regression models.</p>

<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>The sexual initiation patterns were determined as normative (65.9%), late (24.8%) and early but unempowered (9.3%). The highest rate of early-unempowered group was shown in Hispanics (14.4%); they were more likely to be depressed, unsatisfied with their bodies and on welfare and have less educated/permissive parents to their sexual initiation than others. The late group had a higher BMI and more satisfaction with their bodies. The highest number of STIs/HIV and IPV victimization was shown in non-Hispanic blacks (NHBs) and Hispanics, respectively. However, NHB females' higher STIs/HIV was shown in late/normative groups, not in early-unempowered group. Among Hispanic females, adolescent sexual initiation patterns were not directly associated with their frequent IPV victimization.</p>

<p><strong>CONCLUSIONS: </strong>NHB females' higher STI/HIV in late/normative groups and Hispanic females' frequent IPV victimization regardless of their sexual initiation patterns may indicate that racial/ethnic disparities in female sexual health was not directly determined by adolescent risk behaviors.</p>

10.1016/j.jpag.2020.11.005

J Pediatr Adolesc Gynecol

33227423