Barriers to STI Education in Adolescents

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2018) reports that 20 million new Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) occur annually, and cases continue to rise in certain populations, specifically adolescents between the ages of 15 to 24. Although adolescents make up only a quarter of the population, they account for approximately half of new STI infections every year (Shannon & Klausner, 2018). Several practice recommendations for STI screening and education exist for primary care providers, however many research studies show that clinicians fail to provide the appropriate education and resources to adolescents (Bruener & Mattson, 2018). In this paper, an integrative research review was conducted to identify barriers that primary care providers experience during preventative healthcare visits with adolescents. Interventions that clinicians can utilize in their practice to improve STI education and screening are also identified with the goal to decrease the prevalence of STIs in the adolescent population.