Systematic review and narrative synthesis of the effectiveness of contraceptive service interventions for young people, delivered in health care settings

Abstract

A systematic review and narrative synthesis to determine the effectiveness of contraception service interventions for young people delivered in health care premises was undertaken. We searched 12 key health and medical databases, reference lists of included papers and systematic reviews and cited reference searches on included articles. All retrieved literature was screened at title and abstract levels, and relevant articles were taken through to full paper appraisal. Data relating to study design, outcomes and quality were extracted by one reviewer and independently checked by a second reviewer. We included interventions that consisted of contraceptive service provision for young people, and also interventions to encourage young people to use existing contraceptive services. The searches identified 23 studies that met the inclusion criteria. The papers focused on: new adolescent services, outreach to existing services, advanced provision of emergency contraception, condom/contraceptive provision and advice and repeat pregnancy prevention. The literature in general is not well developed in terms of good quality effectiveness studies and key outcome measures. However, it is possible to make recommendations in terms of outreach versus targeted young people's services in health care settings, advanced provision of emergency contraception and long-acting reversible contraception to prevent repeat adolescent pregnancy.