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A small study of women who responded to a study recruitment flier that offered a free, rapid HIV test revealed the participants knew very little about sexually transmitted infections.
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The 2019 STD Surveillance Report noted annual cases of STDs in the United States reached an all-time high in 2019 for the sixth consecutive year. In 2019, there were 2.5 million reported cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis, and a nearly 30% increase in reportable STDs between 2015 and 2019. Data from 2020 showed a similar trend of high STD cases in the first 11 weeks of 2020, but reported cases were much lower than 2019 cases for a week in April 2020.
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States and community health centers could do a better job of removing access barriers to oral contraceptives, according to the results of a new study. Only a small percentage of states and community health centers provide patients with a one-year supply of oral contraceptives on site.
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The results of two recent studies suggest benefits for adolescents who receive contraceptive services through school-based health centers in Oregon. Contraceptive Technology Update asked lead author Emily R. Boniface, MPH, research associate in Oregon Health and Science University’s department of obstetrics and gynecology, to answer questions about the new research.
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A survey of OB/GYN residents revealed a significant difference in exposure to placement of intrauterine devices (IUDs) based on whether they were working as residents in states that expanded Medicaid vs. states that did not. The responses revealed those who worked in university programs in states that accepted Medicaid expansion inserted more IUDs and received more experience with immediate postpartum IUD training than did those in states that did not expand Medicaid.
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Teen birth rates have fallen in recent years, but the rate in the United States is higher than in other high-income countries, including the Netherlands and all Scandinavian countries. The U.S. teen birth rate is 16.7 births per 1,000 teens — 73% lower than the peak in 1991. In Norway, the teen birth rate is 2.8 births per 1,000 teens.
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In recent years, studies have shown the benefits of same-day contraception access. But practice has not always caught up with research.
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Only one in 10 patients who received a recent positive pregnancy test reported their reproductive health provider discussed all pregnancy options at clinics in a Southern publicly funded family planning system, researchers noted. The patients whose providers mentioned all pregnancy options were more likely to rate their counseling as excellent on all items, compared with patients who did not receive information on all options.
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New research highlights the challenges many reproductive health providers and family planning clinics faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. These include discontinuation of services, such as placing long-acting reversible contraception and prescribing emergency contraceptive pills in advance.
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Pregnancy-capable individuals with a history of opioid use disorder (OUD) hold an inherent distrust of the healthcare system. This is one reason why contraceptive counseling could be a challenge for this population. New research through Boston Medical Center shows that individuals with OUD exhibit similarities to individuals with other chronic medical conditions when they are choosing a contraceptive method.
