Southern participants reported less screening and management of adolescent sexual health needs than other regions, and contraceptive implant training might be prioritized by future inpatient programs given its feasibility.
Southern region clinicians reported significantly less screening of adolescent sexual health needs compared to clinicians in other regions.
Southern region clinicians reported significantly less management of adolescent sexual health needs compared to clinicians in other regions.
Qualitative analysis identified gaps in inpatient sexual health services and barriers to LARC training among inpatient pediatric clinicians.
Qualitative findings indicated that successful implementation of inpatient sexual health training, including contraceptive implants, has been achieved in some settings.
Clinicians expressed concerns about future implementation of inpatient LARC training but also identified perceived solutions to improve feasibility.
The study used a convergent parallel mixed-methods design combining a national online survey and semistructured interviews to assess inpatient adolescent sexual health services and LARC training preferences.
This research suggests that there are significant regional differences in how inpatient pediatric clinicians screen for and manage adolescent sexual health needs across the United States. Clinicians working in the Southern region were significantly less likely to screen for or manage sexual health needs compared to those in other parts of the country. The study surveyed 669 clinicians and conducted in-depth interviews with 32 clinicians, including pediatric residents, advanced practice providers, and other inpatient staff who care for adolescents. The interviews revealed three main themes: that there are gaps in inpatient sexual health services and barriers to training clinicians in long-acting reversible contraception (LARC, such as IUDs and implants); that some hospitals have successfully implemented training programs for these services; and that clinicians have concerns about rolling out such training more broadly, though they also identified practical ways to make it more feasible. Contraceptive implants were highlighted as potentially easier to implement in inpatient training programs compared to other LARC methods. This research suggests that hospitals and training programs should consider developing educational interventions for inpatient clinicians who care for adolescents, and that these programs may need to be tailored to address regional differences in practice. The authors recommend that future programs prioritize contraceptive implant training given its apparent feasibility, and that future research should design and test specific educational interventions for inpatient settings where adolescents may have limited access to sexual health services otherwise.
Zhao A, Higashi R, Edmondson S, Wong C, DeSilva N, Gribbons M, et al.. (2025). Inpatient Adolescent Sexual Health Services and Long-Acting Reversible Contraception Training.. Hospital pediatrics. https://doi.org/10.1542/hpeds.2024-008016