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OCR for page 93
Consequences of Early Sexual
and Fertility Behavior
CHAPTER 5
THE HEALTH AND MEDICAL CONSEQUENCES OF
ADOLESCENT SEXUALITY AND PREGNANCY:
A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
Donna M. Strobino
INTRODUCTION
Our ing the early 1970s, much of the concern about adolescent
sexual behavior centered on the adverse social, economic and health
consequences of early childbearing. As rates of sexual experience
rose among adolescents throughout the decade, attention turned to
parallel increases in use of induced abortion to terminate pregnancy
and in rates of sexually transmitted diseases. This chapter discusses
the effects of these increases on the health of the adolescent, her
future reproduction and the health of her offspring, as well as the
health consequences of adolescent pregnancy.
This review of the literature is limited to those consequences of
sexual behavior--sexually transmitted diseases, induced abortion, and
birth--that are most likely to affect the physical well-being and
future reproductive health of the adolescent population. Even still,
it represents a major undertaking involving a vast literature,
especially with regard to sexually transmitted diseases. The review
of the 1 iterature on the health consequences of induced abort ion and
adolescent birth is a comprehensive compilation of recent studies con-
ducted in the United States. For sexually transmitted diseases, a
comprehensive review of the literature is presented only for studies
of the prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases (STD) among adoles-
cents and young adults. A complete review of the literature on the
sec~uelae of STDs was beyond the scope of this chapter. In addition,
because the focus of the review is reproductive health, the 1 iterature
on SIDs will include primarily studies of women.
Several recommendations for future research are made here based on
the review presented below. First, further research is needed to de-
termine whether the elevated r isk of STDs Tong adolescents is due to
an increased biological susceptibility to these infections or to a prep
ponderance of other r isk f actors among young sexually act ire women. In
particular, the role of pa~cterns of sexual behavior among adolescents,
such as unplanned sexual encounters, in increas ing the ir r isk needs
elaboration. Secondly, age differences in the risk of sec~uelae of
STOs, other than pelvic inflammatory disease, need further study as
93
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94
well as age differences in the risk of some of The more recently publi-
cized STDs, such as genital herpes. Thirdly, the risk of subsequent
unf adorable outcomes of pregnancy following more than 2 induced abor-
tions during adolescence remains an area for which few studies have
been reported . Fou rthly, the f actors that place the adolescent at
increased risk of unfavorable birth outcomes should be specified in
future research. Fifthly, maternal age differences in the rate of
fetal growth need further clarif ication. Finally, the effect of a
young age of childbearing on the health of offspring during the early
years of life has received little careful scientific scrutiny. In
particular, the documented social disadvantages of adolescent child-
bear ins need to be stud fed in relet ion to the health of the children
of adolescent parents.
SE:XUALLY T"NS~D DISEASES
Several sexually transmitted diseases {STD) have received consider-
able attention in recent literature. Their prevalence Tong teenagers
and sequelae will be discussed below. They include genital infections
caused by Neisseria gonorrhocae, Chlamydia trachomatis and herpes
simplex virus. Increased in the rate of these STDs have generally
paralleled the rise in rates of sexual experience among adolescents.
A brief discussion of three other infections will also be included
since they may affect the health of the adolescent or her offspring.
Estimates of the prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases among
adolescents vary depending on the source of cats for the estimates.
Sources generally include reported diseases (where the STD is report-
able), surveys of visits to office~based practices, data on patients
attending sexually transmitted disease clinics, and data on patients
attending clinics or other health facilities. The data on reported
diseases are limited by differences in ehe completeness of reporting
of d iseases for public and private health care sources and, thus,
biases in the estimates of rates for individuals who are more or less
likely to use public clinics. Surrey data are constrained by lack of
validation of diagnoses. Data from STD clinics or other health facili-
t ies provide information on isolation rates for sexually transmitted
mic roorganisms and permit study of the r isk of infection in relet ion
to patient character istics. TO ens jar disadvantage of these sources
of data are patient selection bias and differences between studies in
isolation rates depending on the extent of symptoms among the patients
studied. The review of the literature on S=s among adolescents is
p resented with these 1 imitat ions in mind .
Trends and Risk Factors for Gonorrhea Infections
Among Teenage Women
Starting in the mid-1960s, the number of reported cases of
gonorrhea rose dramatically among teenagers, particularly among women.
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as
It reached a peak at approximately 276,000 cases in 1979 and has de-
clined since then (Hascola et al., 1983) about 243,000 cases in 1982
(CDC, 1983b). The rate of reported cases of gonorrhea in 1982 was
142S cases per 100,000 women aged lS-l9 years and 71 cases per 100,000
women aged 10-14 years. Among males, the respective rates were 980 and
23 per 100,000 population. Although in 1965 the rate of reported cases
of gonorrhea was greater for males than females aged 15-19 years, the
female rate surpassed the male rate in 1973 and has remained higher
since then.
The rate of reported cases of gonorrhea is especially high for non-
whi~e women aged 15-19 years, exceeding the white rate by almost ten-
fold in 1979. Among women under 15 years, the nonwhite rate exceeds
the who ite rate by more than tenfold . Although nonwhites are more
likely to utilize public clinics than whites where reporting of
gonorrhea cases is more complete (Barnes and Holmes, 1984), the large
disparity in the rates between nonwhite and white teenagers is unlikely
to be due solely to differences in the reporting of cases.
Between 1967 and 1975, the rise in the rate of reported cases of
gonorrhea was greatest among 15-19 year olds of all sex and race groups
(2aidi et al., 19831. Since 1976, the overall rate of reported cases
has declined in the United States (Parra and Cates, 1985), while it has
remained stable among teenage women. Indeed in 1983, the rate was
highest among this age group (CDC, 1984b) . Moreover, Bell and Holmes
~ 1984 ~ found that the rates of reported cases of gonorrhea among
sexually experienced women declined steadily with age and were espe-
cially high for very young teenagers. Their estimates of sexually
experienced women were derived from data from the 1971 and 1976 surveys
of Zelnik et al. The number of sexually exper fenced women over age 20
was overestimated by an unknown magnitude, and their rates of gonorrhea
were accordingly underestimated by an unknown magnitude. The data on
reported cases of gonorrhea may be compromised by age differentials in
the reporting of cases, particularly since younger women are more
likely to use public clinics where reporting is more complete (Bell
and Holmes, 1984~. Additional errors in reporting of gonorrhea may
result from the lack of uniform criteria to diagnose gonorrhea, and
from the difficulty in diagnosing qonococcal infections or invasive
gonococcal disease in women (Barnes and Holmes, 1984~.
Apart f ram the limitations of the data, several explanations have
been offered for the rise among teenagers in the number and rate of
reported cases of gonorrhea between 1965 and 197S. The first is an
increase in the numbers of teenagers and young adults in the population
(the groups with highest rates of gonorrhea) as a result of the coming
of sexual age of the baby boom population (Aral et al., 1983; Cates,
1984: Mascola et al., 1983: Zaidi et al., 19831. This would influence
the number of cases. A second explanation is the rise in sexual
activity among teenagers, coupled with an earlier initiation of sexual
activity and the use of contraceptives that are ineffective in pre-
venting lower genital tract infections (Bell, 1983; Mascola et al.,
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96
1983) . Bell ~1983 ~ suggests that part of the r ise in gonorrhea rates
may be artifactual. related to improved diagnosis of Neisseria
gonorrhosse with the introduction of Thayer-Martin culture media in
1964 and to improved screening of cases, especially among women,
through the National Gonorrhea Control Program begun in 1973. Cates
(1984) notes that in the absence of efforts to control the spread of
sexually transmitted disease (STD), the size of the population at risk
will determine the magnitude of the problem. Apart from the obvious
link with the size of the population at risk, i.e., sexually active,
there is no direct scientif ic evidence to support these explanations.
Whether the higher rates of gonorrhea among teenage women are a
result of social and behavioral factors or an increased biological
susceptibility remains unclear. There is recent indirect evidence to
support the notion of greater biological susceptibility to Neisseria
gonorrhoeae among adolescent women (Bell and domes, 1984; Washington
et al., 1985; McGregor, 1985: Cates and Rauh, 1985; Bell and Bein,
1984~. The columnar epithelium is more likely to be located at the
porto vag inalis of the cervix among adolescents than among older women
{Ostergard, 1977) and thus more exposed to the outside world (McGregor,
198S). Neisseria gonorrhoeae as well as Chla~nydia trachomatis appear
to have a predilection for this columnar epithelial tissue (Washington
et al., 1985: McGregor, 1985~. Another biologic factor is more specu-
lative and is related to the unchallenged immune system of the adoles-
cent who has not been previously exposed to sexually transmitted
microorganisms (Washington et al., 198S; Bell and Holmes, 1984) .
Within the teenage and young adult population, the prevaler~ce of
lower genital tract infections with Neisseria gonorrhocae has been
estimated recently in clinical studies of presumably sexually active
women {Bowie et al., 1981; Chacko and Lo~chik, 1984; Saltz et al.,
1983; Anglin et al., 1981; Fraser et al., 1983: Shafer et al., 1984;
wiesmeier et al., 19831. These studies provide estimates of recovery
rates of Nessserza gonorrhocae from O to 12 percent among women whose
endocervix was cultured during a pelvic examination. The variation in
the estimates of the prevalence of qonorrhes may arise from differences
in the extent. -.o which the women were currently sexually active and
the extent to which the pelvic examination was performed because of
symptoms of lower genital tract infection. Moreover, it may also
result from differences in the socioeconomic characteristics of the
samples studied. For example, in two of the three studies with a rate
of recovery of N. gonorrhea exceeding 10 percent (Chacko and Lo~chik,
1984; Fraser et al., 1983}, the samples included predominantly indigent
patients: in the third study, the sample was not described (Anglin et
al., 19811. In the four studies with a recovery rate of N. gonorrhoeae
of less than S percent, part (Saltz et al., 1983; Shafer et al., 1983)
or the ma jority {80wie et al., 1981; Wiesmeier et al., 1983) of the
study patients were from middle income or working class families.
The prevalence of N. gonorrhoese infections among adolescents and
young adults may be inf luenced by demos raphic character ist ics of the
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97
population as well as by patterns of sexual activity. As noted above,
rates of reported cases of gonorrhea are greater among black than white
women. Shafer et al. (1983) also reported higher percentages of black
women with positive cultures for N. gonorrhoeae than white. Ringhorn
and his associates (1982) found a predominance of blacks among young
adult British men and women with repeated cases of gonorrhea. Fraser
et al. ( 1983 ~ found no increased risk of gonorrhea Tong blacks. There
is only limited evidence of a relationship between socioeconomic status
and gonorrhea rates among adolescents (Ekstrom, 1970) or young adults
(Ringhorn et al., 19823.
In a recent review of the epidemiology of gonorrhea, Barnes and
Holmes { 1984 ~ notice possible reasons for the high rates among black
women. Persons with ABO blood group 8 appear to be more susceptible
to gonococcal infections; this blood group is more frequently found
among blacks than whites. Strains of N. gonorrhoese that produce
asympto~natic infections are found Snore frequently among whites than
blacks.
Sexual behavior, as measured by number of partners and age at f irst
coitus, appears to be associated with gonorrhea! infections. In a
study of patients a~ctending STD clinics in Sacramento during the super
of 19 71, Darrow ( 1975 ~ found that the rate of gonococcal infections
rose with increasing numbers of sexual partners, up to four, and then
declined. However, 66 percent of the patients reported only one sexual
partner in the past month. Fulford et al. (1983} found a direct rela-
tionship between number of lifetime sexual partners and gonorrhea in-
fections among male attenders of an STD clinic in England, while
Ekstro~n (1970] reported a relationship between a young age at first
coitus and gonorrhea for 18-19 year old boys in Copenhagen. A related
var table, use of oral contraceptives, does not appear to be associated
with gonorrhea (Fraser et al., 1983; Derrow, 1915) . Darrow also found
no relationship between use of the condom and gonorrhea. But many
other studies have found a relationship with the use of contraceptives,
espec tally barr iers.
Sequelae of Gonococca1 Infections
Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) is the most severe complication
of lower genital tract infections in women (Cates, 1984}, resulting
f rom an ascending spread of infection of the lower genital tract
(Westro~n, 19801. Although it has been held for a number of years that
Neisseria gonorrhoese is a common cause of PID, recent evidence sug-
ges~cs that it has ~ multifactorial microbis1 etiology (Thompson and
Washington, 1983 Hestrom, 19801. Since PID can be caused by ~ number
of microbial agents, but these agents have seldom been specifically
detected in studies, it is difficult to determine the incidence of
gonococcal PID or the factors exclusively associated with gonococcal
PID. Barnes and Holmes (1984) indicate that PID may occur in 10 to 20
percent of women with gonorrhea.
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98
PID is a vague term, frequently used to refer to salpingitis, in-
fla~ation of the uterine tubes. Accurate diagnosis is problematic
based on clinical criteria since they are not always confirmed by
laproscopy (Westrom, 1980~. Hany salpingitis patient. have atypical
signs and symptoms and some have none, especially those with infections
caused by Chlamydia trachomatis (Westrom, 1980~. Moreover, while signs
and symptoms are generally used to define PID in clinical studies, it
is commonly defined In survey data by one or more International Classi-
f ication of Disease (ICDA) coder, some of which are noninfectious dis-
orders (Westro~n, 1980~.
An analysis of data f rom the Hospital D ischarge Survey (HDS) indi-
cates that rate. of hospitalization for PID rose between 197S and 1981
among white women aged 15-24 . In 1979-81, women aged 1S-24 years had
the highest rate, i.e., 100,000 women, of hospitalization for PID, sur-
passinq women aged 25-34 years for whom the rate we. bighe~t in 197S-
78. Among nonwhite women aged 15-24 years, rates of hospitalization
remained stable between 1975 and 1981. Nonwhite women had higher rates
of hospitalization during the entire period, but because of the rise in
rates for young white women, the ratio of nonwhite deco white rates den
clined f ram 1975 to 1981 "Washington et al., 1984) . The higher rates
of PID among black women with gonorrhea may be explained by a high
proportion of gc~nococcal infections caused by strains more likely to
produce PID (Holmes et al., 19801.
While rates of hospitalization increased for young white women in
the mid-1970s, the rate of visits for FID to off~ce-based physicians
declined, as reported from the National Disease Therapeutic Index
(NDTI) and the National Ambulatory Medical Care (NAMC) Surrey (CDC,
1980~. MOSt of the decline occurred among nonwhite women (Cates,
1984), but age-specif ic visit rates have not been reported. Washington
et al. ~ 1984 ~ suggest that the ~ ise in hospitalizat ions and the con-
com~tant decline in office visits for PID may be due to a greater con-
cern for its consequences and, thus, a lower threshold of physicians
for hospitalizing women with PID.
When rates of hospitalization for PID are estimated for sexually
exper fenced women, the rates decline exponentially with age (Bell and
Holmes, 19847 . Similarly, Westrom { 1980) estimated that the risk of
acquiring selpingitis in a sexually active girl was 1 in 8 for 15 year
olds, 1 in 10 for 16 year olds but l.in 80 for women aged 24. In con-
tra~t, Chacko and Lock (1984) found the risk of PID, as measured by
clinical signs, rose f ram 3 percent among 13-14 year olds to 13 per-
cent for 17-18 year old sexually active women in a predominantly
black, urban sample.
Westrom (1980) argues that promiscuity may be the reason for the
high risk of salpingitis among 15-16 year olds; among IS year olds with
coital exper fence, So percent reported four or more sexual partners in
the past year compared with 20 percent among 18 year olde. A possible
biolog ical reason for the higher r isk among young women is related to
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99
the age differences in location of cervical columnar epithelium dis-
cussed above. The Light transparent phenotype of N. gonorrhoeae is
associated with infection of the fallopian tubes. I t ha. been found
to be more copious in the cervix of young women than older women,
attaching itself to the columnar epithelium better than the less
virulent opaque phenotype {sell and Holmes, 1984; Bell and Hein, 19841.
The IUD has been implicated as a possible causative agent in PID.
The risk of PID is about 2 to 4 tmes greater for IOD users than non-
users, regardless of the study design or the study site {Senanayake
and Kramer, 1980; Lee et al., 19831. This risk is especially high for
the Dalton Shield (no longer available and recalled by FDA order) (Lee
et al., 1983) . Few U.S. teenagers use IUDs and it is generally not
recommended for women in th is age g Coup, espec ially if they have not
had children. The r isk of PID, on the other hand, is reduced with use
of oral contraceptives (Senanayke and Kramer, 1980) and with use of
barrier methods (Relaghan et al., 1982) . Sterile inflation in the
endometr ium and uter ine tubes following IUD insertion and possible
mechanical damage to the endometrial epithelium are two mechanisms
hypothesized by which The IUD facilitates the ascent of microbes
through the uterus to the fallopian tubes. Explanation for the prom
teatime effect of oral contraceptives on PID are related to the pos-
sible effect of steriods on ache density of cervical mucus or uterine
muscular activity (Senanayake and Kramer, 19801.
The rising rates of hospitalization for PID among young U.S. women
are important because of their possible association with r ising inf er-
tility and ectopic pregnancy rates. Between 1965 and 1976, the per-
centage of infertile couples with the wife aged 25-29 rose in the
United States. Among blacks, the increase was especially pronounced
among couples with wives aged 20-24 for whom the percentage infertile
rose f ram 3 .3 percent In 1965 to IS percent in 1976 (Aral and Holmes,
19841. Between 1970 and 1978, the ec topic pregnancy rate rose by more
than twofold . Age in, the r ise was g Neatest among black women.
Maternal death-to~case rates from ectopic pregnancy are more than 3
times greater for black women than for white women (Rubin et al. 19837.
Tubal damage following PID is estimated to be associated with 30
to 40 percent of cases of female infertility and in 40 to 50 percent
of ectopic pregnancies {Hestrom, 198Q). However, determining a direct
causal link between PID and its possible sequelae is difficult. Wes-
trom (1980) found that infertility because of tubal occlusion occurred
in 15.2 percent of women treated earlier for laproscopically verif fed
salpingitis who later exposed themselves to the risk of pregnancy.
The percentage with tubal occlusion infertility was twice as great for
women aged 25-34 as for women aged 15-24, but age differences were
found only for women with one infection. Infertility varied directly
with the number of infections, reaching a peak of 54 percent among
women with three or Snore infections. It also was directly associated
with severity of infection among those with only one infection.- The
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100
fertility prognosis for women under 25 was better with qonococcal-
associated salpingitis than with nongonococcal salpingiti..
Using the same data, Westrom (1980) studied the relationship of
acute salpingitis with ectopic pregnancy. The ratio of ectopic to
intrauterine pregnancy was 1:16 in the first pregnancy after salpingi-
tis in 1968-74 and 1:24 in 1960-67. Among healthy control women (not
described), the ratio was 1:147. Westrom estimated that women in the
post-PID state accounted for about one~quarter of the rise in ectopic
pregnancies in Lund, Sweden between 1960 and 1919 in women aged 20-29
years.
Prevalence and Trends in Chl~ydial Infections
Chla~nydial infections of the lower genital tract have surpassed
gonococcal infections as the most prevalent STD Ions U.S. women and
are a common STD among adolescents (Anglin et al., 1981 ; Cates, 1984 ;
Fraser et al., 1983; Hare and Thin, 1983; Saltz et al., 1983; Schachter
et al., 197~. Shafer et al., 1984: Thompson and Washington, 1983~. Un-
like gonorrhea, however, infections caused by Chla~dia tracho~natis are
not reportable conditions. Thus, most estimates of the prevalence of
chlamydial infections are derived from clinical studies or reports of
nonspecific lower genital tract infections in women (Here and min.
1983) or of nongonococcal urethritis (NGU) in men (Cates, 19847; both
have been linked with C. tracho~nat~s (Hare and Thin, 19837.
The prevalence of chlamydial infections of the lower genital tract
has been estimated to be between 7 and 23 percent among young women
cultured during a pelvic examination. In all but one study the preva-
lence of chlamyd ill infections was ~ rester than the prevalence of
gonococcal infections. Like gonorrhea, dif ferences in recovery rates
of C. trachomatis are likely due to variations in patient character-
istics. For example, Shafer et al. ( 1984) noted that in adults the
rate of chlamydial infection ver ies in adults f rom 4 to 8 percent
among asympto~natic women to over 20 percent in women with symptoms of
lower genital tract infection.
There appears to be an increased r isk of chlamydial infections
among teenage women. Hobson et al. {1980) found that the degree of
infection with C. trachomatis, as measured by the number of inclusions
per coverslip of McCoy culture, was greater Song women under 20 than
older women. However, their f inding. did not suggest that this age
effect was due to greater exposure of cervical columnar epithelial
t issue {cervical ectopy) among the young women. They speculated that
it may have an immunological bests. Harrison et al. (1983) reported a
significant correlation between a positive culture for C. tracho~atis
and an age less than 24 years among pregnant low and middle income,
we ite and H ispanic women. With in the teenage ~ coup, there does not
appear to be an association of chla~dial infection witch age (Anglin
et al., 1981; Fraser et al., 1983; Wiesmeier et al., 1984) or gypper
colog ic age (Shafer et al. ~ .
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101
The evidence regarding an association between a positive culture
for C. trachomatis and the demographic characteristics of the adoles-
cent is conflicting. While Fraser et al. (1983) found no association
with race, Shafer et al. (1984} reported a higher percentage of black
females with a positive culture for C. trachomatis than whites or
Hispanics. Shafer et al. found no relationship of socioeconomic status
with a positive culture. On the other hand, Harrison et al. (1984)
reported a signif leant correlation between a positive culture for C .
trachomatis and maternal occupation and maternal education among
pregnant women; the ir sample included older women as well as adoles-
cents, although the reported relationship remained signif leant when
adjustments were made for age differences in education and occupation.
Sexual behavior, as measured by a young age at f irst inte rcourse
(Shafer et al., 1984 ~ and multiple recent sexual partners (Chacko and
Lovehik, 1984; Wiesmeier et al., 1984), has been associated with in-
creased rates of recovery of C. trachomatis, although Fraser et al.
( 1984 ~ found no association between recovery of C . trachomatis and
number of lifetime or recent sexual partners. There appears to be an
increased r isk of chlamyd~al infections among adolescents using oral
contraceptives (Shafer et al., 1984; Fraser et al., 1983) . Moreover,
Hobson et al. (1980) found an increased degree of infection with C.
trachomatis among women using oral contraceptives, regardless of
whether they had cervical ectopy; cervical ectopy was positively re-
lated to the deg ree of infection. Shaf er et al. ( 1984 ~ and Fraser et
al. {1983) have suggested that hormone~induced increases in cervical
columnar epithelial tissue among oral contraceptive users may be the
reason for their increased risk, but the work of Hobson et al. (1980)
only partially supports their speculation. Fraser et al. ( 1983) also
suggested that it may be due to more promiscuity among oral contracep~
tive users but gave no data to support this speculation. Chacko and
Lovehik (1984) did not find an association between oral contraceptive
use and the prevalence of Chiamydial genital infections.
Sequelae of Chlamydial Infections
There Is considerable evidence to suggest that infections with C.
tracho~natis are frequently asymptomatic In females (Fraser et al.,
1983 : Wiesmeier et al., 1984 ~ or have nonspecif ic symptoms (Shafer et
al., 19831. Because of the asymptomatic nature of these infections,
the ir sequalae become increasingly important in e~raluatir~g the extent
to wh ich they impact on the future reproduct ive health of the adoles-
cent. In a review of studies of chla~nydial infections of the pelvic
region, Thomson and Washington (1983) reported that during the 1970s
C. trachomatis was isolated from between 15 and 70 percent of cases of
acute salpingitis in Scandinavian countries, but in only 0 to 10 per-
cent of cases in the United States. The lower recovery rates in the
U.S. may be due to an inability to utilize minute biopsies of tubal
epithelium (Thompson and Washington, 1983 ~ . Among women under 25
yea rs in Lund, Sweden, Westrom ( 1980 ~ found that over one-half of PID
cases were caused by C. trachomatis.
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102
The magnitude of infertility that can be directly attributed to C.
tracho~natis is unknown (Thompson and Washington, 19831. Although rem
suits of studies in which cultures were taken from the fallopian tubes
dur ing laproscopy are inconsistent, recent reports have shown a rela-
tionship between elevated levels of antichlamydial antibodies and tubal
factor infertility {Gibson et al., 1984; Thomson and Wsshington,
1983~. However, many of the infertile patients with elevated anti-
chlamyd ial antibodies have reported no history of PID (Gibson et al.,
1984; Thompson and Washington, 1983), suggesting undetected infections
in these women.
The evidence of a link between chlan~'dial salpingitis or PID and
ectopic pregnancy is indirect. For example, Thomson and Washington
(1983) show a parallel rise in cases of PID and ectopic pregnancy rates
between 1966 and 1973 as indirect evidence of the link between the two.
Although Westrom (1980) shows more direct evidence of the association
between salpingitis and ectopic pregnancy, the percentage of tubal
pregnancies resulting from chlamydial induced tubal damage is unknown.
C. trachomatis has also been implicated in conjunctivitis and an
afebrile pneumonia syndrome in the newborn (Fraser et al., 1983;
Schach~cer et al., 1979) . Estimates of the prevalence of C. trachomatis
infections in pregnant women range f ram 7 to 27 percent in the U.S.
(Thompson and Washington, 1983; Chacko and Lovchik, 1984~. The highest
rates have been reported among young urban women {Cates, 1984; Harrison
et al., 1983; Thompson and Washington, 19831. Chacko and Lovchik
( 1984~ reported a prevalence of 27 percent among pregnant teenagers
aged 13-18. Schachter et al. (1979) estimated that given a cervical
infection rate of 4 percent, there will be 14 cases of chlamydial
con junc~civitis and 8 cases of chlamydial pneumonia per 1, 000 live
bi rths. These est. imates may be low for pregnant adolescents, g iven
their h igh rates of chlamyd ial infections.
There is considerable ep~demiological evidence linking the number
of: :;xual partners and a young age at first intercourse to an in-
creased risk of cervical cancer (Hare and Thin, 1983; Rotkin, 1967;
Schachter et al., 1982) . This evidence has lee: recent investigators
to study the role of C. trachomatis in the development of cervical
cancer (Hare and Thin, 1983; Schachter et al., 1982~. While it may
play ~ role in a small proportion of cases of cervical cancer tHare
and Thin, 1983), Schachter et al. (1982} could not offer an explana-
tion for its association with cervical cancer, particularly since the
cell nucleus does not appear to be affected in cAlamydial infections.
Prevalence and Trends in Herpes Simplex Virus Infections
of the Lower Genital Tract
-~ ~ widely held content ion that herpes s implex ~ irus (}ISV) inf em
tior~< If the lower genital tract increased dur ing the 1970s is sups
porter by an analysis of data from the NDTI (Becker et al., 198S) .
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103
The proportion of consultations for genital HSV infections in offices
based fee-for-service practices rose from 30 per 100,000 consultations
in 1966 to 336 in 1981 (Becker et al., 1985) . In contrast, the rate
of consultations for oral herpes and ocular herpes infections rose by
less than twofold between 1966 and 1979 (CDC, 1982) . In 1966, the
number of visits to office~based practices for men outnumbered YiSitS
for women, but by 1980, visits by women for genital herpes surpassed
chose for men. The r ise in the number of vis its for genital herpes was
very large for women aged 15-19, increasing frown about 15,000 yearly
visits in the beginning of the period to over 110,000 at the end
(Becker et al., 1985) .
The NDTI data do not g ive estimates of the total occurrence of HS`t
infections in the United State since sources of health care such as
HMOs, public clinics and hospital outpatient clinics are not included.
Nevertheless, Sullivan-Bolysi et al. (1983 ~ also reported a rise in
the percentage of visits for genital herpes infections between 1976
and 1981 among patients attending STD clinics in Ring County, Wash-
ington. An increased awareness and better diagnosis of lISU infections
may explain some of the rise in genital MSV infections, but part of
the rise occurred before intensive media campaigns about genital
herpes (Becker en al., 1985) .
Estimates of the prevalence of HSv genital infections are far more
cliff icult to obtain. Depending on the sample population, they range
from O to 6 (CoC, 1979; Josey et al., 1972; Schachter et al., 1975) .
Two studies have estimated the prevalence of genital HSV infections in
~ University sandpile. About 1 percent of the students who attended the
Student Health Services (SHS) at t3CLA in 1975 and 1976 had genital
herpes infections, as defined by clinical criteria (Sumaya et al.,
1980 ~ . The mean age of the patients with a single f irst infection was
similar to that for the general student population. The percentage
with clinically diagnosed genital HSV infections was lower (0. 6) among
women who were treated for gynecolog ical problems at the SHS at Penn
State University in 1974 and 197S (Kalinyak et al., 1977) . The per-
centage of women with virologically confirmed infection was 0.3.
There is little known about the risk factors associated with HS~
genital infections, largely because descriptive studies of convenience
samples of virologically confirmed cases of HSV infections are the
primary source of this information (Nahmias et al., 1973~. Both
cytological and virological evidence suggests that HSU genital infect
tions occur Snore frequently among lower socioeconomic groups (Josey,
1972; Baker and Amstey, 1983; Lancet, 1981; Rawls, 1971), although
there is recent evidence that they also are common among higher sac ion
economic groups {8iermen, 1983; Knox, 1982~. The risk of experiencing
recurrences has been reported to be greatest among higher socioeconomic
groups (Lancet, 1981~. Rawls et al. also found a younger mean age and
a greater percentage of unmarried persons among patients with genital
herpes infections than controls, but their control population was not
well def ined. Adler-Storthz et al. ~ 1985) found that the f requency of
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112
Pregnancy Induced Hype rtens ion
Pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH) is one of the most frequently
and consistently reported complication of adolescent childbearing. An
increased incidence of PTH among adolescents appears, in part, to be
explained by a preponderance of women who are black, experiencing their
f irst pregnancy and who receive inadequate prenatal care among adoles-
cents, when compared with older women. Yet, understanding of the
et iology of PIH among adolescen~cs as well as older women rema ins
limited.
There is no uniform definition of P1H or preeclampsia used in
studies of adolescent pregnancy and frequently no definitions are
iven. Terminology varies, including pregnancy induced hypertension
and preeclampsia in more recent studies, and toxemia in older studies.
When a definition of preeclampsia is not given in a study, it is
assumed that it refers to a clinical diagnosis noted in the medical
record with the inherent problems of differences in the deg ree to which
providers diagnose or record the condition. The number of cases of
eclampsia were too few to evaluate in the adolescent studies.
In those studies where PIH was investigated as a complication of
pregnancy, the percentage of adolescents with PIN ranged f rom a low of
2.5 percent among whites studied by Israel and Woutersx (1963) to a
h igh of 34.0 percent among the predominantly black adolescents studied
by Duenholter et al. (1975~. In the majority of the studies, the per-
centage of adolescents with PIB ranged f ram 7 to 11 percent. Moreover,
the percentage of women with PIH was generally higher among adolescent
women than the older control 9 Coup.
Differences in the definition of PTH may influence the magnitude of
the d ifferences in the percentage of women with PIH between adolescent
and control women, especially if underly ing hypertension is included.
Yet, it is more likely that they are influenced by differences in con-
found ing var. tables between the adolescent and older control g Coup,
particularly race and parity. Among the studies where there was no
attempt to adjust for differences between adolescent and older women
on race or par ity, the adolescents had higher percentages of PIH
(Classman and Bell, 1964; Semmens, 1965; Utian, 1967; Jovanovic, 19721.
The one exception was 8riggs et al. (1962), a study including a very
unusual compar ison sample. When rates of PIH were compared in studies
by race, differences by age were markedly reduced {Battaglia en al.,
1963; Haskin, 1963; Israel and Woutersz, 1963; Spellacv et al., 19781.
Indeed, Haskin (1963) showed greater between race differences within
age than between age d if ferences within race.
Par ity also appears to be related to age dif ferences in rates of
PIH in that most of the studies in which primigravidous adolescents
and primigravidous older women were compared showed only small dif-
ferences between the two age groups (Bochner, 1962; Hassans and Falls,
1964; Poma, 1981; Osbourne et al., 1981; Graham, 1981; Lee and halters,
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113
19831. The results of Coates (1970), Hulka and Schaef (1964), and
Duenholter et al. (l97S) are exceptions to this general relationship.
Coates' control sample included white women while the adolescent sample
did not. Despite similar study designs, Hulka and Schaef (1964) found
a higher percentage of older mothers with PIH, while Duenholter et al.
(l9?S) found a higher percentage among adolescent mothers. Both
studies were limited by their definitions of PTH, and this limitation
may account for their opposite results.
One reason for the particularly high rates of PIH in the study of
Duenholter et al. (1975) may be their very young sample, adolescents
aged 14 years or less. Battaglia et al. (1963), similarly, showed
higher percentages with PIH in this age group compared with nonwhite
pr imig ravidas aged 15-19 year s. The reasons for the elevated rates of
PTH among the youngest adolescents are unclear, but they do not appear
to be due to physical immaturity. Erkan et al. (1971) reported that
the percentage of adolescents with preecla~nps~a (undef ined) was greater
among adolescents with a postmenarcheal age (PMA) less than 24 months,
as measured by the difference between the given age at menarche and the
date of last menstrual per lad (LMP), than among those with a PICA of 24
months or more, but the dif ference was not statistically signif icant.
Hollingsworth et al. (1981) reported that hypertension (undefined) was
related to race, but it was not associated with gynecologic age; they
gave no def inition for gynecologic age.
In two additional studies, inadequate prenatal care was investi-
gated as a reason for the reported high rates of pregnancy complica-
tions among adolescents. McAnarney and her associates ( 1978) studied
the Rochester Adolescent Maternity Program (RAMP), a program providing
more prenatal visits and psychosocial services than two other study
sites. They found no significant differences in the frequency of
hypertension or preeclampsia among adolescents receiving services in
the three s ites, but their sample s ize was very small. Jorgensen
~ 1972), on ache ocher hand, found a marked drop in the percentage of
adolescents with preeclampsia at Pennsylvania Hospital after introduc-
t ion of an adolescent clinic; the clinic was developed on the premise
that intensive prenatal care and health education would lower the risk
of adolescent pregnancy. It is impossible to evaluate this before/
after comparison since the characteristics of adolescents using the
hospital before the clinic was introduced were not described and the
availability of the clinic to all adolescents was not discussed.
Based on the stud yes reported here, it appears that much of the
r isk of preeclampsia or PIH assoc Sated with adolescent pregnancy may
be due to a predominance of pr imig ravidas and blacks among pregnant
adolescents . There may be a somewhat elevated r isk of PIH among the
youngest adolescents, but this elevated risk does not appear to be a
result of their physical immaturity.
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114
Anemia During Pregnancy
Anemia is a frequently cited complication of adolescent child
bearing. Yet, the evidence supporting this conclusion is very limited.
Like PIR, anemia, is not uniformly defined in the adolescent pregnancy
literature, although most investigators measure it by low hen oglobin
or hematocrit levels. In many studies, these levels are not taken at
uniform time during pregnancy and for convenience are frequently mea-
sured at the tone of registration for prenatal care. When comparing
adolescents and older women, hematocrit or hemoglobin levels may vary
simply because adolescents are more likely to begin prenatal care in
the second trimester and hemoglobin levels drop in the normal pregnancy
during this trimester.
The percentage of adolescents with anemia ranged f rom 0. 8 to 19.
percent in the studies reviewed. Even when the studies in which no
definition of anemia was given (Bochner, 1962; O4cian, 1967; and Poma
1981) or a conservative definition was used (Spellacy et al., 1918)
are excluded from comparisons, the range in estimates of adelescen~cs
with anemia during pregnancy is still large (3.6 to 19. ~ percent) .
In most of the studies, there was no difference in the percentage
of women with anemia between adolescent and control women, even when
no adjustment was made for difference by age in race or other poten-
tial confounding variables. Israel and woutersz {1963) and Osbourne
et al. ~ 1981) were the only two investigators to report a signif i-
cantly higher percentage of adolescent than older women with anemia.
In contrast, although Bulks and Schaef {1964) found no differences by
age in anteDartum anemia, the older control mothers more frequently
. ..
had postpa -~m anemia than the adolescent mothers.
In a study of the incidence of folacin and iron deficiency among
predominantly black, low income when, Bailey et al. ( 1980~ found no
age differences in mean he~natocrit levels and serum and red blood cell
levels of folacin taken at first prenatal visit. Serum iron concentra-
tion was signif icantly lower among the older women than among the
adolescents and there was a trend for transferrin saturation to also
be lower in older women. The authors suggested that iron depletion
may be less in the adolescents because of the it comparably shorter
menstrual histories.
Israel and Woutersz {1963) noted a greater percentage of women
with anemia among both nonwhite teenagers and controls than among all
women delivering in 10 collaborative study institutions. Similarly,
Mc(;anity et al. ( 1969 ) found signif icantly lower mean hemoglobin,
hematocrit and corpuscular hemoglobin concentration among black adoles-
cents than among whites. Weir mean plasma iron levels, however, were
similar. MaGanity et al. did not report the trimester during which
these measures were taken.
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115
In two final studies, the role of a special program for adoles-
cents in reduc ins compl ications of pregnancy was evaluated. Neeson
and her associates (1983 ~ reported that on admission for labor, adoles-
cents attending the Young Womens Clinic at University of California
had hemaeocries similar to older controls using the regular obstetrics
clinic, but that teenagers using the regular clinic had signif icantly
lower hematocrits. Similarly, Jorgensen (1972), reported that adoles-
cents attending an adolescent clinic at the University of Pennsylvania
were less likely to have anemia, as measured by a hemoglobin under 10.
at delivery, than adolescents receiving care at the hospital before the
clinic' s inception. The possibility of self-selection of the adoles-
cents into the special program cannot be ruled out as an explanation
for the results of this latter study.
On balance, the literature does not suggest that anemia is a ma jor
complication of adolescent pregnancy. A high frequency of anemia among
black adolescents may be cause for some concern by health care prom
viders. Most studies are limited by small sample sizes, failure to
measure anemia uniformly dur ing pregnancy and almost complete absence
of ad justment for confound ing var tables. with few exceptions (Bailey
en al., 1980 ), these studies were no~c designed to specif ically investi-
gate differences in anemia between adolescent and older mothers and,
accordingly, do nor address normal physiologic changes in pregnancy.
Cesarean Sections and Cephalopelvic Disproportion
Cesarean delivery rates have been studied as a possible complica-
tion of adolescent childbearing, largely because of their indication
as a method of delivery for women with cephalopel~ric disproportion or
contracted pelvis. Because of their young age, adolescents have been
p resumed to be more 1 ikely than older women to have cephalopelvic
disproportion.
Among the studies reviewed, the ma jority show no dif ference in
cesarean delivery rates between the adolescent and older control
mothers. Nevertheless, several studies have shown the advantage to
the adolescent (Briggs et al., 1962; Israel and woutersz, 1963; Poma,
1981; Osborne et al., 1981; Neeson et al., 1983; Lee and Walters,
1983), but many of these studies did not exclude repeat cesareans or
multiparous women f ram the control sample. Even among the more recent
studies in which only primiparous women were studied (Duenholter et
al., 197S; Poma, 1981; Osbourne et al., 1981; Graham, 1981; Lee and
Walters, 1983), there were no differences in cesarean delivery rates
for the two age groups or lower rates were reported for the adoles-
cent. Excluding the study by Poma because in included only women with
x-ray pelvimetry, estimates of cesarean delivery rates in the most
recent U.S. studies (Duenholter et al., 197S; Spellacy et al., 1978;
Neeson et al., 1983; Graham, 1981) range from 9.2 to 14.7 percent.
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116
The incidence of contracted pelvis among adolescents and older con-
trol women was evaluated in some studies as a complication of preg-
nancy. With the exception of the work of Hulka and Schaef ~ 1964),
these studies indicate an increased incidence of contracted pelvis
among the adolescent group, particularly when x-ray pelvimetry was per-
formed to diagnose the contracted pelvis. Duenholter et al. {1975)
found significant differences only for contraction of the pelvic inlet
of less than 85 percent of the normal area. Similarly, Pome (1982} rem
ported that on admission for labor and delivery, there were no signi-
ficant differences in the average diameter of the pelvic midplane and
outlet between adolescent and older mothers, but the average pelvic
inlet antereoposterior and transverse diameters were significantly
lower for the adolescent. He argued that these differences were mini-
mal and unlikely to be clinically meaningful. Cephalopelvic dispropor-
tion was the most frequent indication for cesarean births in his study
sample, and it was given with similar frequency in both age groups
(Poma, 1981) .
Birth Weight and Gestational Age of Infants
Born to Adolescent Mothers
Birth weight has received the most careful scientific scrutiny of
all outcomes of adolescent childbearing. Many studies have reported a
higher proportion of low birth weight (LBW} and lower mean birth
weights of infants born to adolescents than those born to an older
control sample. Maternal age d if ferences in Low rates and in mean
birth weights may in part be explained by racial differences by age;
black infants in general weigh less than white infants and pregnant
adolescents are more likely to be black than older mothers. More rem
cent studies suggest that not only race but other r isk factors such as
low socioeconomic status, lower prepregnancy weights and later initia-
tion of prenatal care may also explain maternal age differences in
birth weight.
Many of the early studies of adolescent pregnancy interchanged the
terms prematurity and LBW. Currently, a premature infant refers to an
inf ant born before week 3 7 of gestation and a LBW inf ant to one weigh-
ing 2500 grams or less at birth. Table 10 provides estmates of the
percentage of LBW infants in 15 studies of pregnant adolescents; in
the early studies it is assumed that prematurity referred to LBW.
The percentage ranges from 6.3 to 23.3, with the majority of the
studies reporting between 10 and 20 percent. The percentage of Low
infants is almost two times higher among nonwhite than white adoles-
cents.
Many of the studies of obstetrical populations in the 1950s and
1960s showed significantly greater percentages of LOW infants Hong
adolescents than older mothers (Hulks and Schaef, 1964; Battaglia et
al., 1963; Utahan, 1967; and Jovanovic, 1972) . Hulks and Schaef and
Battaglia et al. reported signif Leant differences in spite of simi-
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117
rarities between the adolescent and control group on race and parity.
On the other hand, Briggs (1962), Bochner (1962), Coates (1970) and
Semmens (1965) reported no significant differences in the proportion
of LOW infants between adolescents and their controls. In more recent
studies (Ouenholter et al., 197S; Spellacy et al., 1978; Poma, 1981;
Osbourne et al., 1981; Graham, 1981; Lee and Walters, 1983), only
Spellacy and his colleagues found a significantly greater percentage
of LOW infants born to adolescent mothers than to older mothers. The
elevated percentage for infants of adolescent mothers held when only
black women were compared. Most other studies have shown greater
variation in LBW rates between whites and nonwhites within age groups
than between adolescent and older mothers within rac ia1 g roups {Graham,
1981; Haskin, 1963; Israel and Wouteraz, 19631.
The r isk of LBW among adolescen~cs appears to increase with the
number of previous births of the mother (Graham, 1981; Israel and
Deutschberger, 1964; Jekel et al., 1975) . Graham {1981} also rem
ported a higher percentage of preterm births among mul~ciparous
adolescents than older multiparas. A number of investigators (Hulka
and Schaaf, 1964; Israel and Deutschberger, 1964; Utian, 1967) have
also reported a g reater percentage of pregnancies ending before 37
weeks of gestation among adolescents than older controls. On the
other hand, Poma (1981) did not find any significant differences by
age in length of pregnancy. 80th Poma ( 19 81) and Hulka and Schaf f
( 1964~ only studied primigravidas. Carn and Petzold ~1983~ found no
relationship between maternal age and mean length of gestation using
data f ram the National Collaborative Perinatal Pro ject, but the per-
centage of pregnancies ending before 38 weeks varied inversely with
age, as did the percentage of LBW infants. While these results sup-
ported previous studies of age variations in birth weight and mea-
sures of maturity of infants at birth, they provided little explana-
tion for these variations.
Naeye ( 1981) also analyzed the data from the Collaborative Peri-
natal Study to determine if young teenage mothers have slower rates of
fetal growth than older mothers. He included black singleton infants
whose mothers were between 10 and 32 years of age and whose infants
were born between 38 and 44 weeks of pregnancy. Among under weight
and normal weight mothers, mean birth weights were significantly lower
for the adolescent than for the older mothers across cost weight gain
groups. Although Naeye concluded that fetuses of most 10-16 year olds
grow more slowly than those of older mothers, this conclusion was pre-
sumptous in that births before 38 weeks gestation were not included.
Horon et al. (1983) have recently shown that birth weights of pre-
mature infants born to young adolescents were significantly greater
than birth weights of premature infants born to older mothers. Be-
cause their premature infants weighed more than those of the older
mother, the infants of the adolescents in their sample, on average,
had similar birth weights to the infants of older mothers despite a
greater frequency of premature births among the adolescents.
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118
In three recent studies, Boron et al. tl983), Rothenberg and Varga
(1981) and Zuckerman et al. (1983) found no significant difference in
mean birth weights between infants born to adolescent mothers and in-
fants born to older mothers, when adjustment was made for age differ-
ences in a number of confounding variables. Horon et al. found similar
bi rth weights in spite of a higher percentage of clinic patients, un-
married women and women living in less affluent neighborhoods, and
lower pregnancy weights, shorter statures, shorter gestations and later
initiation of prenatal care among the adolescents than among the older
controls. In the study by Zuckerman et al. {1983), the adolescent
mothers began prenatal care later, had lower prepregnancy weights, had
more gonorrhea! infections dur ing pregnancy, were more likely to be
black, had fewer religious affiliations, were less likely to smoke, use
psychoactive drugs or drink alcohol during pregnancy and were less
likely to have had an x-ray during pregnancy than the older mothers.
Rothenberg and Varga (1981) did not describe the differences between
the ir adolescent and control sample . All investigators concluded that
factors other than a young age were associated with low birth weight
among p regnant adolescents .
The conclusion that a young age, per se, is not the reason for
poor outcomes of adolescent pregnancies is supported only in part by
studies of the relationship of gynecologic age and measures of fetal
growth. Hollingsworth and her associates (1981} found no association
of gynecologic age with birth weight, length of the infant, head cir-
cumference of the infant, or gestation. On the other hand, Erkan
( 1971) and Zlatnik and Burmeister ( 1977) found higher LBW rates among
offspring of adolescents with a low qynecologic age than among off-
sp ring of more mature adolescents. The measure of gynecolog ic age
used by 21atnik and Burmeister was confounded with gestation since it
was def ined as the length of time between age at menarche and age at
delivery.
The possible role of adequate or inters ive prenatal care in re-
ducing LBW rates among adolescents has received considerable attention.
Neeson and her colleagues ~ 1983}, Jorgenson ~ 1972), tackler et al.
(1969) and Felice et al. (1981} reported lower percentages of LBW in-
fants born to adolescents attending an intensive prenatal care program
than infants born to adolescents receiving routine prenatal care.
Zackler et al. ( 1969} found the advantage of the program to be greatest
. . . . · . . . .
for black adolescents. Neeson et al. also bounce olrtn weights to be
similar for the adolescents in the Special Program and older women
attending the regular obstetrics clinic. Although Felice and her
associate. (1981) raised the possibility of self-selection of teens
into the special care program as a reason for their better outcomes,
they dismissed it because of their study design. It cannot be ruled
out as a possible explanation in their study or those of Jorgenson
( 1972) and Zaclcler et al. ( 1969} . ~~
McAnarney and her associates ( 1978
did not find differences in mean birth weights or length of gestation
of offspring of adolescents served in three dif ferent sites.
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119
The elevated risk of delivering a LBW infant among adolescents
appears to be due to a preponderance of other risk factors among the
adolescent. Exactly which other risk factors remain in question, how-
ever, as does possible differences in the growth rate of the fetuses
of adolescents and older mothers. Both areas warrant future research.
The LaW infant, in addition to experiencing an increased risk of neon
natal death, is more likely than the normal weight infant to succumb
to a variety of problems (Shapiro et al., 1980~. Prevention of LBW
infants among adolescents and at all maternal ages is a major public
health prior ity.
Perinatal, Neonatal and Infant Mortality Among
the Offspring of Adolescent Hothers
Maternal age differences in perinatal, neonatal and infant mortal-
ity have been investigated in a number of the studies including cross-
sectional studies of births occurring in a geographic area. These
latter studies have generally used linked birth and death certificates
as ache sou rce of data. These data have the ma jar advantage of be ing
available for all births in a geographic area but the major disadvan-
tage of containing limited information.
Israel and Woutersz (1963), Osbourne et al. (1981) ; Graham et al.
( 1981) and Duenholter et al. ( 1975) found no signif leant differences
in per inatal mortal ity rates between infants born to adolescent mothers
and infants born to older mothers. Duenholter et al. ( 1975) also
found no significant maternal age differences in neonatal mortality
rates. On the other hand, Battaglia et al. ( 1963~ reported a higher
perinatal mortality rate for nonwhite infants born to mothers under 15
than for all nonwhite infants born in Baltimore City, but the higher
rate was due almost entirely to the greater frequency of infants
weighing under 1000 g rams among the young mothers. S. imilarly, Hu lka
and Schaaf (1964) noticed an elevated neonatal mortality rate among in-
f ants born to adolescents that was due to LBW infants. Israel and
Woutersz (1963) also found greater neonatal mortality rates among off-
spring of teenage~nothers, but differences in rates were less by age
than by race. In several additional studies, the number of perinatal
or neonatal deaths was too small to evaluate maternal age d if ferences
(Utian, 1967; Coates, 1970; Spellacy et al., 1978; Pow, 1981; Lee and
Walters, 19831.
Dott and Fort ( 1975; 1976) found a J-sbaped relationship between
maternal age and perinatat" mortality among 1912 Louisiana births. The
risk of a neonatal death was 9 rester for the off spring of the very
young and elderly mothers than for the offspring of women in their
twenties. Varva and Querec (1973) reported a U-shapea relationship
between age of mother and mortality rates for deaths occurs ing in the
first day of life, the first week of life and from day 7 to 27, using
data from the 1960 U.S. birth cohort study. Postneonatal death rates
were highest for infants of teenagers. In Louisiana, they were high-
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120
est for infants born to mothers aged 10-14 years, followed by infants
of lS-19 year old mothers (Dots and Fort, 1975) . Within the teenage
births, infant mortality rates were higher for infants of married
women than for inf ants of unmar r fed women.
Varies and Querec (1973) found differences in the relationship of
maternal age to infant mortality by birth order. As with LBW rates,
infant mortality rates were elevated for second and higher order births
to teenage mothers. Jekel et al. ~ l97S) also reporte~f a higher per i-
natal mortality rate for higher pregnancy order births among adoles-
cents.
In contrast to several of the above studies, the classic study of
Shah and Abbey (1971} indicated no maternal age effect on neonatal
mortality when adjustment was made for birth weight differences by age.
However, next to birth weight, maternal age and parity showed the
strongest relationship with postneonatal mortality. Moreover, adjust-
ment for par ity increased the r isk of postneonatal mortality for in-
fants born to mothers less than 20. Thus, the results of Shah and
Abbey showed the" maternal age was an important predictor of infant
death only in the postneonatal per iod. T t appears that much of the
r isk of elevated neonatal mortality rates among infants born to
adolescent mothers is due to the increased proportion of LBW infants
born to these mothers.
Neonatal and ~ irst-Year Morbid ity
Among Offspring of Adolescent Mothers
The relationship of maternal age with morbidity in the newborn or
the infant during the f irst year of life has been much less exten-
sively studied than birth weight or mortality. There is some evidence
of an elevated risk of morbidity among infants of young mothers, but
the var iation by maternal age is less than replaced for LBW rates.
Garn and Petzold (1983), Osbourne et al. (1981) and Poma (1981)
found no consistent relationship between maternal age and the percent-
age of infants with low Appear scores. Zuckerman et al. (1983) and
Finkelstein et al. (1982) noted lower one minute Apgar scores among in-
fants of adolescent mothers than among infants of older mothers, but
f ive minute scores were similar. Neeson et al. { 1983) reported similar
results for infants of teenagers receiving care in the regular obstet-
r ics clinic compared with infants of older mothers receiving care there
or infants of teenagers in a special program. Only Rothenberg and
varga (1981) found lower five minute Apgar scores for infants of
adolescent mothers, but the association of Apgar scores with maternal
age was weak. There appears to be little assoc istion between a young
age of childbearing and other measures of neonatal morbidity, including
conjunctivitis, omphalitis, septicemia, skin infections, convulsive
disorders, intracranial hemorrhage, hyaline membrane disease, excessive
weight loss, duration of nursery stay (Duenholter et al., l97S) and
jaundice (Osbourne et al., 1981) .
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121
Morbidity during the first year of life has been investigated in
relation to maternal age in a number of recent studies {Hendershot,
1979; Shapiro et al., 1980; Smolen et al., 1984; Rothenberg and Varga,
1981 ; Finkelstein et al., 1982) . In a study of 4, 327 surviving infants
born in 8 geographic regions in the United States in l97S, Shapiro et
al. ( 1980 ) reported that infants of women under 18 years at the time
of their birth had more significant illnesses during the first year and
greater rates of postneonatal death, especially if they were LBW. Mor-
bidity data were collected through a household interview. Finkelstein
et al. (1981) also reported significantly more acute episodes of ill-
ness among the offspring of white adolescents than the off spr ing of
older white mothers. Hendershot ( 1979 ~ reported more hospitalizations
among infants of mothers under 20 than infants of mothers 20 or older
among ever-marr ted, pr imiparous U . S . women included in Cycle I of the
1973 Nat tonal Survey of Family Growth.
Rothenberg and Varga (1981) and Smolen et al. (1984), on the other
hand, found no differences in reports of hospitalization or the need
to see a physician regularly for a medical problem in their children
for adolescent and older mothers. However, Rothenberg and Varga re-
ported more burns and injurious conditions for infants of adolescent
mothers than for infants of older mothers. Hicklund et al. (1984)
also have recently reported higher rates of fatal infant accidents for
the offspring of mothers under 20 than for those of mothers over twenty
in North Carolina and Washington State. Maternal age differences in
rates remained within race and education groups when standardized for
parity.
Smolen et al. (1984) noted a greater percentage of the infants of
adolescent mothers below the fifth percentile for weight gain, while
the infants of older mothers had significantly more clinic visits for
medical problems. In contrast, Finkelstein et al. (1982) found no
maternal age difference in mean heights or weights of children during
the first two years of life.
There appears to be only limited evidence of an increased risk of
morbidity for infants of young mothers. This evidence suggests that
accidental injuries may be more frequent among offspring of adolescent
mothers. The differences in morbidity by maternal age are small even
when reported in large cross-sectional studies (Shapiro et al., 1980;
Rendershot, 19191. Most other studies are limited by small sample
sizes or sampling methods that may have resulted in a biased adoles-
cent sample or an inappropriate control sample.
CONCI`USI ONS
This review of the literature indicates that rates of sexually
transmitted diseases rose from adolescents during the 1970s, and for
some infections, such as genital herpes or chlamydial infections, they
could continue to climb. The risk of gonorrhea, syphilis, and
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chlamydial
infections is highest among the teenager, particularly when
rates are estimated for sexually experienced women. Although the pos-
sibility of an increased biological susceptibility to sexually trans-
mitted infections has been related to age differences in the location
of cervical columnar epithelial tissue, the role of age differences in
patterns of sexual behavior in expla ining elevated rates among adoles-
cents remains to be explored. The r isk of genital herpes and genital
wa rts among adolescents has not been descr ibed and is an area for
future research, especially given the devastating effects of herpetic
infections in the newborn and the clear role of human papilloma~rirus
in cervical cancer. N. gonorrhoeae and C.
. . . .
trachomatis have been impli-
cated in pelvic ~nfla~atory disease and its consequences of infertil-
ity and ectopic pregnancy; both have been increasing recently among
young black women.
Complications following induced abortion are generally lower among
adolescents than older women, regardless of the gestation at which the
abortion was performed or the method used. Two exceptions are cervical
injury and death-to~case rates from sepsis which are more frequent
among teenagers. ~ f there is an inc teased r isk of unf adorable outcomes
in pregnancies following an induced abortion, the risk is small. Even
for second trimester abortions, where the evidence to date is most
convincing, the increased risk following induced abortion is at most
twofold, if it ex ists at all. The r isk of second trimester abort ion
r i ses somewhat with increasing numbers of pr for induced abortions.
Much of the risk of subsequent unfavorable outcomes of pregnancy
following induced abortion appears to be associated with differing
character istics of women with and without a history of induced abor-
tion. Whether a young age at the time of the abortion confers an in-
c Ceased risk of subsequent unfavorable pregnancy outcomes has not been
stud led.
Most recent research indicates that the elevated risk of poor
pregnancy outcomes among adolescents is most likely explained by a
preponderance of r isk factors among young mothers. Although race,
primiparity and poor prenatal care have been suggested as possible
risk factors, research is still needed to specify the factors that are
most likely to explain their increased risk of poor outcomes. High
rates of perinatal and neonatal deaths have been associated with high
LBW rates among adolescents. However, an elevated risk of postneonatal
deaths among the offspring of adolescent mothers appears to be indepen-
dent of age differences in birth weight. The research on early child-
hoed morbidity is too limited to determine whether this increased risk
extends to morbidity as well.
Representative terms from entire chapter:
maternal age
