Hormonal Contraceptive Health Education for Adolescent Males

Unintended pregnancy among adolescents is a significant public health issue and U.S.
adolescents have one of the highest unintended pregnancy rates among industrialized nations.
An estimated 9% of male adolescents becoming fathers by the time they are 20 years old. Over
14 million adolescents use emergency departments every year and many of the adolescent males
that present to the ED are engaged in high risk sexual behaviors which puts them at high risk
for unintended pregnancy. This presents an opportunity to educate males that are at high risk
about pregnancy prevention.

This study is a prospective randomized control trial of education about female hormonal
contraception for these higher risk adolescent males, 15-21 years old, that present to the
Saint Louis Children's Hospital pediatric emergency department. An electronic application
will be used to take a sexual history and ask questions about patients' current attitudes and
use of hormonal contraception with their partners. They will then be randomized to watch a
video on female hormonal contraception (experimental group) or no video (control group). The
video will be an overview with brief pros and cons of all available types of hormonal
contraception. The app emphasizes importance of condom use as part of dual method protection
throughout. All patients will be followed up in 3 months to complete a survey with similar
questions on sexual history, discussions with partners, and current contraceptive practices.
The hypothesis of the study is that this will lead to increased rates of discussion about
hormonal contraception between male adolescents and their sexual partners. This may lead to
increased contraceptive use rates and a decrease in unintended pregnancy.

Inclusion Criteria:

- Male adolescents 15-21 years of age that are sexually active and have ever had vaginal
sex that present to the St Louis Children's Hospital pediatric emergency department.

Exclusion Criteria:

- Males that have never had vaginal sex

- Require activation of the trauma system

- Triage as high severity (level 1 or level 2)

- Present for evaluation of abuse, sexual assault, or psychiatric issues

- Unable to speak English

- Wards of the state

- Disabilities that prevent independent use of a tablet device

- Have not completed the electronic adolescent health questionnaire that is standard of
care in our emergency department as this is needed for screening purposes