Sex Education Programs for Schools Still in Question: A Commentary on Meta-Analysis

Abstract

m i “ The meta-analysis reported in the three Guide to Community Preventive Services papers published in this issue of the American Journal of Preventive edicine targets two basic prevention strategies— comprehensive risk reduction (CRR) and abstinence education—which have the common purpose of lowering adolescent sexual risk behavior. Meta-analyses were conducted for each strategy on key behavioral and biological outcomes. This study did a commendable job of identifying the available studies of sexual risk-reduction interventions and evaluating them according to criteria for study quality. The Community Preventive Services Task Force (Task Force) also developed a rigorous category system to create appropriate dependent and independent variables for the analysis, and employed a sophisticated analytic strategy. They are to be commended for undertaking the study. Following are comments on the impact of heterogeneity on the study’s conclusions, as well as comments on the authors’ interpretation of study findings with regard to the public health impact of CRR and abstinence education.