A community-based intervention designed to increase preventive health care seeking among adolescents: the Gonorrhea Community Action Project.

OBJECTIVES

We evaluated the effectiveness of an intervention designed to increase preventive health care seeking among adolescents.

METHODS

Adolescents and young adults aged 12 to 21 years, recruited from community-based organizations in 2 different communities, were randomized into either a 3-session intervention or a control condition. We estimated outcomes from 3-month follow-up data using logistic and ordinary least squares regression.

RESULTS

Female intervention participants were significantly more likely than female control participants to have scheduled a health care appointment (odds ratio [OR]=3.04), undergone a checkup (OR=2.87), and discussed with friends or family members the importance of undergoing a checkup (OR=4.5). There were no differences between male intervention and male control participants in terms of outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS

This theory-driven, community-based group intervention significantly increased preventive health care seeking among female adolescents. Further research is needed, however, to identify interventions that will produce successful outcomes among male adolescents.