Adolescent Pregnancy

Births to adolescents under age 18 per 10,000
females under age 18

Domain

Physical health status
Social environment

Rationale for use of indicator

Births to adolescents are an indicator for other social and behavioral risk factors. This group of young pregnant women is also likely to experience barriers to health care.

Outcome

Because these pregnancies ore often unplanned and unwanted, they can negatively affect the health and well-being of the mother, father, and child. The accompanying lack of economic and social support may contribute to a variety of health problems.

Interventions

Interventions include programs or activities to improve communication between adolescents and parents on human sexuality, to reduce sexual intercourse among teenagers, and to reduce nonuse of contraceptives among those who are unmarried and sexually active.

Data Source

1997 Texas Vital Statistics

References

Children at Risk. The indicators. [Online: http://www.childrenatrisk.org/ ] July 1999.

Institute of Medicine. 1997. Improving health in the community: A role for performance monitoring. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.