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Sexual and Reproductive Health of Persons Aged 10–24 Years

United States, 2002–2007

Many young people in the United States engage in sexual risk behaviors that can result in unintended health outcomes, including pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, or other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). This CDC report, Sexual and Reproductive Health of Persons Aged 10–24 Years — United States, 2002–2007, [pdf 1.5M] explores recent surveillance data to create a portrait of sexual activity and health among youth aged 10–24 years by examining the following:

Number of young people who currently engage in sexual risk behaviors and experience related health outcomes
Greatest disparities by sex, race/ethnicity, and geographic location
Trends that emerge from available data

Key Findings

Many Young People Experience Negative Sexual Health Outcomes
The data presented in this report indicate that many young people in the United States engage in sexual risk behaviors and experience negative reproductive health outcomes. For example, approximately

745,000 pregnancies occurred in U.S. females under age 20 during 2004
20,000 adolescents and young adults aged 10–24 years were living with HIV or AIDS at the end of 2006
1 million adolescents and young adults aged 10–24 years were reported to have chlamydia, gonorrhea, or syphilis in 2006
Nearly a quarter of females aged 15–19 years and 45% of those aged 20–24 years had a human papillomavirus (HPV) infection during 2003–2004
100,000 females aged 10–24 years visited a hospital emergency department for a nonfatal sexual assault injury during 2004–2006

Although risks tended to increase with age, the youngest age group was also affected. For example, among youth aged 10–14 years, approximately

16,000 pregnancies were reported in 2004
17,000 males and females were reported to have a STD in 2006
30,000 females visited a hospital emergency department because of a nonfatal sexual assault injury during 2004–2006

Racial/Ethnic Disparities Persist
Noticeable disparities exist in the sexual and reproductive health of young persons in the United States. For example, according to Youth Risk Behavior Survey data for 1991–2007:

Hispanic teens aged 15–19 years are much more likely to become pregnant (132.8 births per 1,000 females) than their non-Hispanic black (128 per 1,000) and non-Hispanic white (45.2 per 1,000) peers
Rates of new HIV and AIDS diagnoses among young adults were highest among non-Hispanic black youth across all age groups
The southern states tended to have the highest rates of negative sexual and reproductive health outcomes, including early pregnancy, STDs, and HIV/AIDS

Trends in Sexual Health Outcomes
Although the past decade has seen declining trends for most outcomes, the most recent data suggest that progress might be slowing, and certain negative sexual health outcomes are increasing. For example:

Birth rates among adolescents aged 15–19 years decreased annually during 1991–2005 but increased during in 2006 and 2007
After decreasing annually since 1998, gonorrhea infection rates among adolescents aged 15–19 years of both sexes increased during 2004–2006
Rates of AIDS cases among males aged 15–24 years increased during 1997–2006

About This Report

CDC operates multiple nationally representative surveys, surveillance systems, and the national vital statistics system to track patterns of sexual risk behavior and reproductive health outcomes in the U.S. population. Considered together, these systems provide extensive information that can be used to guide the work of policy makers, researchers, and program providers.

However, each survey, surveillance, and vital statistics system reports data separately (e.g., HIV/AIDS data is reported separately from STD and pregnancy data) and in different formats (e.g., each system uses slightly different age groupings), which can make it difficult to get a perspective of the overall reproductive health picture.

To address these data-use challenges, CDC’s Workgroup on Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health combined available data from multiple sources into a single report concerning the sexual and reproductive health of persons in the United States aged 10–24 years. Data from the following surveys, surveillance systems, and vital records system were used:

The report uses consistent age groups and stratifies the data by age, sex, race/ethnicity, and location.

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