LAUSR

Abstract:Objective. To assess the association between the Youth Pediatric Symptom Checklist-17 (YPSC-17) and adolescents' reports of ever having sex and with having positive testing results for sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Methods. Analyzed electronic data from primary care clinics for 27,901 adolescents aged 13–17 years with responses to the YPSC-17 and urine screen results for gonorrhea/chlamydia. Results. On the YPSC-17 in total 8.3% screened positive. Over one quarter (26%) reported ever having sex and 11% of sexually active youth had a positive STI test. Logistic regression analyses revealed increased odds of sexual activity among those positive on the YPSC-17 total (aOR 1.87, 95% CI 1.68–2.08) or any subscale (INT-aOR 1.43, 95% CI 1.32–1.55; EXT-aOR 1.62, 95% CI 1.40–1.88; ATT-aOR 1.67, 95% CI 1.47–1.90). In addition, sexually active youth with positive EXT (aOR 1.41 95% CI 1.00–1.98) scores were more likely to have STIs. Conclusion. The YPSC-17 can identify adolescents with heightened risks for STIs.