Teen Males Reproductive Health Needs & Barriers to Care

描述(申请人提供)：在美国，青少年男性，特别是年龄较大和少数族裔的青少年男性，从事导致男女青少年生殖问题的性危险行为，包括性传播感染和意外怀孕。促进安全性行为的努力已被证明对预防这种发病率是有效的，最好从青春期开始。实践指南建议临床医生在所有青少年中促进生殖健康，例如对性及其后果进行筛查和咨询。然而，目前的努力主要针对女性。我们对如何有效地促进男性生殖健康，或者男性如何看待他们的生殖健康需求知之甚少。这一点尤其重要，因为男孩在青春期使用医疗保健的情况有所下降，这最终可能导致健康需求得不到满足。本研究的最终目的是在青春期男性一般需求的背景下更好地了解青春期男性感知的生殖健康需求，并确定那些可以改变的因素，以便为青春期男性生殖健康干预计划的发展提供信息。候选人是巴尔的摩马里兰大学(UMB)的儿科医生和青少年医学专家，他对青少年男性进行了初步研究。该奖项的培训阶段将包括5项活动：1)学习如何为行为研究制定研究方法，2)发展进一步的数据收集技能，包括以患者为中心的半结构化访谈，3)学习如何设计和分析纵向研究，4)发展负责任的研究实施技能，5)完善陈述、出版和资助写作的技能。这些目标将通过有指导的研究活动来实现，并通过现有的UMB K30临床研究人员培训奖提供重点课程作为补充。该奖项的研究阶段包括描述青春期男性(12-19岁)的实际和感知的生殖健康需求、生殖保健使用、护理使用的预测因素以及通过使用现有数据集和初级数据收集的生殖健康发病率。利用国家青少年健康纵向研究的数据，这项研究的目标1是确定青春期男性生殖健康需求的程度和预测生殖健康保健使用的因素。利用青春期男性、父母和临床专家的初步数据收集和分析，本研究的目标2是探索青春期男性感知的一般和生殖健康需求和卫生保健系统的经验。完成这一奖项后，候选人将成为一名严格的行为科学家，了解他的临床取向，并丰富我们对国内青少年男性生殖健康和增加他们获得临床生殖服务的机制的了解。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): In the U.S, teen males, especially older and minority adolescent males, engage in sexual risk behaviors that result in reproductive problems among adolescents of both genders, including sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancy. Efforts to promote safe sexual behaviors have been shown to be effective to prevent such morbidity and should start ideally during adolescence. Practice guidelines recommend that clinicians promote reproductive health among all adolescents, such as screening and counseling about sex and its consequences. Current efforts however target primarily females. We know very little about how to effectively promote reproductive health for males or how males think about their reproductive health needs. This is especially relevant since boys' use of health care declines during adolescence, which can ultimately result in unmet health needs. The ultimate goal of this study is to better understand adolescent males' perceived reproductive health needs in context of their general needs and identify those factors that are amenable to change in order to inform the development of adolescent male reproductive health intervention programs. The candidate is a pediatrician and specialist in adolescent medicine at the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) who has conducted preliminary research on adolescent males. The training phase of the award will include 5 activities: 1) to learn how to develop study measures for behavioral research, 2) to develop further skills in data collection, including semi-structured patient-oriented interviews, 3) to learn how to design and analyze longitudinal studies, 4) to develop skills in the responsible conduct of research, and 5) to refine skills in presenting, publishing and grant writing. These objectives will be accomplished through mentored research activities, and complemented by focused coursework available through an existing UMB K30 award for training of clinical investigators. The research phase of the award includes a description of adolescent males' (ages 12-19) actual and perceived reproductive health needs, reproductive health care use, predictors of care use, and reproductive health morbidity by using an existing dataset and primary data collection. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study on Adolescent Health, Aim 1 of this study is to determine the extent to which adolescent males have reproductive health needs and the factors that predict reproductive health care use. Using primary data collection and analysis among adolescent males, parents and clinical experts, Aim 2 of this study is to explore adolescent males' perceived general and reproductive health needs and experiences with the health care system. Upon completion of this award, the candidate will become a rigorous behavioral scientist informed by his clinical orientation and enrich our understanding of domestic adolescent males' reproductive health and mechanisms by which to increase their access to clinical reproductive services.