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Purpose: The purpose of this quality improvement project was to evaluate provider knowledge regarding contraceptive counseling and LARCs in women affected by mental illness.Background: In Arizona, 51% of 61,000 pregnancies were unintended in women aged 15-44 in 2010. Potential barriers of healthcare providers working with this population to obviate risky behavior is misinformation, lack of knowledge, and lack of comfort with these patients. Long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs), such as arm implants and intrauterine devices (IUDs), are highly effective and eliminate the inconsistency and misuse of their short-acting counterparts. Methods: The subjects were primary care providers at a local community health center. The project utilized a one-group pretest/post-test design with an evidence-based education intervention on the topic of contraceptive counseling and LARC prescription in women affected by mental illness. The design is descriptive and utilizes a pre- and post-assessment process offered before and after a targeted education session for providers on contraceptive counseling and LARC prescription for women of childbearing age affected with mental illness. Results: For this specific site, an educational intervention did show an increase in provider knowledge regarding contraceptive counseling and LARC prescription in women affected by mental illness. Intent to change practice was also indicated after the educational intervention as well. 22.2% of the providers reported their practice will be significantly changed (n=5), 44.4% reported more change (n=4), 22.2% reported some change (n=3), 11.1% reported little change (n=2), and 0% reported no change (n=1). 55.6% reported they would consult more with psychiatric colleagues surrounding the need for contraception, compared to the 44.4% who would make no changes to their current practice, and 0% would consult less. Implication: Contraceptive counseling and LARC prescription is needed in a primary care provide

Associations between personality traits and sexual risk-taking behaviors have been widely studied in the general population and in university students; however, much less is known about this association in adolescents. A better understanding of the relationship between sexual risk and facets of personality during adolescence is needed to improve sexual education in this population. This study explores the relationship between facets of personality and sexual risk outcomes – knowledge, attitudes, intention, and condom use – in a sample of adolescents by gender. Students (N = 1,458) aged 14-16 years were recruited from five areas of Spain to participate in the study. Multiple linear regressions were computed using SPSS Statistics v22. Results highlighted the weak but significant link between sexual risk and personality facets. Adolescents with higher scores on extraversion, conscientiousness, and agreeableness, but lower scores on emotional stability were more likely to engage in sexual risk behaviors and, consequently, they were more likely to inherit STIs and unplanned pregnancies. In boys, higher sexual risk was associated with greater scores on gregariousness, sociability, warmth, openness, and perfectionism, but lower scores on the confidence characteristic. In girls, higher sexual risk was associated with greater scores on agreeableness and sensitivity, and lower scores on calmness. Personality profiles of sexual risk in adolescents differed by gender, which highlights the importance of gender when tailoring sexual health promotion interventions, Perfiles de personalidad asociados al riesgo sexual en adolescentes españoles. La relación entre los rasgos de personalidad y el riesgo sexual ha sido ampliamente estudiada en la población general y universitaria; sin embargo, se sabe mucho menos sobre esta relación en población adolescente. Es necesaria una mejor comprensión de la relación entre el riesgo sexual y la personalidad durante la adolescencia para mejorar la salud sexual en esta población. Este estudio explora la relación entre facetas de la personalidad y variables relacionadas con el riesgo sexual – como el conocimiento, las actitudes, la intención y el uso del condón – en una muestra de adolescentes, atendiendo a las diferencias de género. Estudiantes (N = 1.458) con edades de 14-16 años fueron reclutados de cinco zonas de España para participar en el estudio. Se calcularon regresiones lineales múltiples usando SPSS v22. Los resultados indicaron que existe una relación débil pero significativa entre variables relacionadas con el riesgo sexual y la personalidad. Los adolescentes con mayores puntuaciones en facetas de extraversión, escrupulosidad y amabilidad, pero con menores puntuaciones en estabilidad emocional eran más propensos a involucrarse en comportamientos sexuales de riesgo y, en consecuencia, eran más propensos a tener infecciones de transmisión sexual y embarazos no planificados. En los chicos, tener mayor riesgo sexual se asoció con mayores puntuaciones en gregarismo, sociabilidad, calidez, apertura y perfeccionismo, y menores puntuaciones en confianza. En las chicas, mayor riesgo sexual se asoció con mayores puntuaciones en amabilidad y sensibilidad, y menores puntuaciones en calma. Los perfiles de personalidad de riesgo sexual en los adolescentes difieren por género, lo que pone de relieve la importancia del género a la hora de adaptar las intervenciones de promoción de la salud sexual

Unplanned pregnancies among active duty Sailors continue to be of concern. In 2001, 10% of young (E-2 through E-4) female Sailors became pregnant. Of all pregnancies among surveyed enlisted female Sailors during that year, only 1 of 3 (36%) was planned. In FY2002, this rate fell to 30%. The national "Healthy People 2010" objective is to increase the proportion of pregnancies that are intended to 70%. Planned pregnancy rates among surveyed active duty Navy enlisted women in 1988, 1992, 1997, 1999, 2001 and 2003 are shown in Figure 1. Navy women who become pregnant often report the father to be another military member. For the most recent pregnancy experienced by those ever pregnant while in the Navy, 73% of enlisted members surveyed in 2001 said the father was a military man. About half of the enlisted female Sailors who experienced an unplanned pregnancy were unmarried (49%), and about half of the enlisted female Sailors that experienced an unplanned pregnancy were married during their most recent pregnancy (49 percent). The vast majority (81%) of men who fathered the children of unmarried Sailors in 1999 were military men. A significant proportion of these children are born to single parents. Among male enlisted Sailors, one of four single fathers with custody in 2001 was unmarried. Of female parents Navy-wide, 24% were single in 2001. Of male Navy parents in 2001, 6% were single. Fully 7% of all Navy women in 2001 were single parents, as were 3% of all Navy men. In 2003, there were over 5,000 single Navy mothers and over 10,000 single Navy fathers. The report also discusses the consequences of unplanned pregnancy, particularly single parenthood, and the costs of such pregnancies to the Navy in terms of dollars, reduced duty hours, absence from the workplace, reassignment, and staff shortages. Also discussed are sailors' attitudes toward birth control, knowledge of birth control, education about birth control, and access to birth control.

Despite the widespread availability of sex education programs in the United States, the rate of unplanned pregnancies among women continues to rise, a trend reflected in the number of Navy women who become pregnant during the their first enlistment. A literature review was conducted to identify the major variables influencing pregnancy and birth rates among young women, and to determine the effectiveness of traditional sex education programs in reducing the rate of unplanned pregnancy. Traditional classroom sex education has been shown to increase knowledge of sexual subject and to change attitudes, but has little or no effect on sexual activity, contraceptive use, or teenage pregnancy. The school-based clinic is a promising model that the navy might, in part, emulate as an intervention strategy to prevent unplanned pregnancies in Navy enlisted women.