Do school-based health centers improve adolescents' access to health care, health status, and risk-taking behavior?

PURPOSE: The purpose of this investigation was to assess the School-Based Adolescent Health Care Program, which provided comprehensive health-related services in 24 school-based health centers.

METHODS

The outcomes evaluation compared a cohort of students attending 19 participating schools and a national sample of urban youths, using logit models to control for observed differences between the two groups of youths. Outcome measures included self-reports concerning health center utilization, use of other health care providers, knowledge of key health facts, substance use, sexual activity, contraceptive use, pregnancies and births, and health status.

RESULTS

The health centers increased students' access to health care and improved their health knowledge. However, the estimated impacts on health status and risky behaviors were inconsistent, and most were small and not statistically significant.

CONCLUSIONS

School-based health centers can increase students' health knowledge and access to health-related services, but more intensive or different services are needed if they are to significantly reduce risk-taking behaviors.