Dataset Information

Truancy and teenage pregnancy in English adolescent girls: can we identify those at risk?

ABSTRACT:

Background

Truancy has been linked to risky sexual behaviours in teenagers. However, no studies in England have examined the association between truancy and teenage pregnancy, and the use of truancy as a marker of teenagers at risk of pregnancy.

Methods

Using logistic regression, we investigated the association between truancy at age 15 and the likelihood of teenage pregnancy by age 19 among 3837 female teenagers who participated in the Longitudinal Study of Young People of England. We calculated the areas under the ROC curves of four models to determine how useful truancy would be as a marker of future teenage pregnancy.

Results

Truancy showed a dose-response association with teenage pregnancy after adjusting for ethnicity, educational intentions at age 16, parental socioeconomic status and family composition ('several days at a time' versus 'none', odds ratio 3.48 95% confidence interval 1.90-6.36, P < 0.001). Inclusion of risk behaviours improved the accuracy of predictive models only marginally (area under the ROC curve 0.76 full model versus 0.71 sociodemographic characteristics only).

Conclusions

Truancy is independently associated with teenage pregnancy among English adolescent girls. However, the discriminatory powers of models were low, suggesting that interventions addressing the whole population, rather than targeting high-risk individuals, might be more effective in reducing teenage pregnancy rates.

SUBMITTER: Zhou Y

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4894480 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Truancy and teenage pregnancy in English adolescent girls: can we identify those at risk?

Zhou Yin Y Puradiredja Dewi Ismajani DI Abel Gary G

Journal of public health (Oxford, England) 20150316 2

<h4>Background</h4>Truancy has been linked to risky sexual behaviours in teenagers. However, no studies in England have examined the association between truancy and teenage pregnancy, and the use of truancy as a marker of teenagers at risk of pregnancy.<h4>Methods</h4>Using logistic regression, we investigated the association between truancy at age 15 and the likelihood of teenage pregnancy by age 19 among 3837 female teenagers who participated in the Longitudinal Study of Young People of Englan ...[more]

PMID: 25784667

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Project description:OBJECTIVES:One of Africa's most important challenges is to improve maternal and neonatal health. The identification of groups at highest risk for adverse pregnancy outcomes is important for developing and implementing targeted prevention programmes. This study assessed whether young adolescent girls constitute a group at increased risk for adverse birth outcomes among pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa. SETTING:Data were collected prospectively as part of a large randomised controlled clinical trial evaluating intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in pregnancy (NCT00811421-Clinical Trials.gov), conducted between September 2009 and December 2013 in Benin, Gabon, Mozambique and Tanzania. PARTICIPANTS:Of 4749 participants, pregnancy outcomes were collected for 4388 deliveries with 4183 live births including 83 multiple gestations. Of 4100 mothers with a singleton live birth delivery, 24% (975/4100) were adolescents (?19?years of age) and 6% (248/4100) were aged ?16?years. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES:Primary outcomes of this predefined analysis were preterm delivery and low birth weight. RESULTS:The overall prevalence of low birthweight infants and preterm delivery was 10% (371/3851) and 4% (159/3862), respectively. Mothers aged ?16?years showed higher risk for the delivery of a low birthweight infant (OR: 1.96; 95% CI 1.35 to 2.83). Similarly, preterm delivery was associated with young maternal age (?16?years; OR: 2.62; 95% CI 1.59 to 4.30). In a subanalysis restricted to primiparous women: preterm delivery, OR 4.28; 95% CI 2.05 to 8.93; low birth weight, OR: 1.29; 95% CI 0.82 to 2.01. CONCLUSIONS:Young maternal age increases the risk for adverse pregnancy outcomes and it is a stronger predictor for low birth weight and preterm delivery than other established risk factors in sub-Saharan Africa. This finding highlights the need to improve adolescent reproductive health in sub-Saharan Africa. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER:NCT00811421; Post-results.

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Dataset Information

Truancy and teenage pregnancy in English adolescent girls: can we identify those at risk?

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Truancy and teenage pregnancy in English adolescent girls: can we identify those at risk?

Similar Datasets

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