Sexual Health Indicators: A Case Study

Throughout recent years, addressing the subject of sexual and reproductive health among Australians has become paramount due to continuously emerging health concerns, particularly among adolescents and younger people.

Over one million cases of Chlamydia were reported to the CDC in 2013. Despite this large number of reports it actually was a decrease by 1.5% since 2012 (CDC, 2014). Epidemiology statistics showed an increase in reported syphilis, including congenital. Other sexually transmitted diseases can pose higher risks for acquiring HIV. According to new studies, HIV is growing faster in populations that are over 50 versus 40 years and younger (BenRose, 2014). Factors may play a role in this such as higher divorce rates, new medications, and safe sex measures. Therefore, it is important for the healthcare provider screen for sexual activity and any change in sexual partners to provide routine testing when necessary and education on preventive

Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) continue to compromise the health of thousands of Americans daily, predominantly adolescents. According to the World Health Organization (2013), approximately one million Americans acquire an STD every day. Although the percentage of adolescents who have had sexual intercourse has declined since the 1990’s, those who have had sex are less likely to use any form of contraception, thus placing them at greater risk of acquiring an STD (Department of Health and Human Services [DHHS], 2015). Of the many STDs that are prevalent in the United States, chlamydia is one of the most commonly reported STDs (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2011). Undiagnosed or untreated chlamydia can cause many health problems including cervicitis, urethritis, and can advance to severe health issues such as pelvic inflammatory disease, infertility, and ectopic pregnancy (CDC, 2011).

The possibility of sexually transmitted diseases and infections poses a huge risk to all those who are sexually active. Without proper diagnosis and treatment, STDs and STIs such as Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, HIV/Aids, and HPV may leave permanent damage to one’s body and increase the likeliness of cervical cancer, infertility, ectopic pregnancy, and more. Planned Parenthood offers extensive testing for patients upon every visit to decrease the spread and damage of any and all diseases. According to Sonfield’s research, “Nearly half of female family planning clients receive chlamydia and gonorrhea tests, and 19% receive an HIV test… Without access to these services, in 2010, an estimated 3.6 million women and men would have forgone chlamydia or gonorrhea testing, which would have resulted in tens of thousands of undetected and untreated STIs. By reducing transmission to partners, these testing services helped prevent an estimated 99,000 chlamydia infections, 16,000 gonorrhea infections and 410 HIV infections that year” (Sonfield). The great amount of transferable diseases requires the counteractive services of Planned Parenthood to provide treatment and prevent the further spread of disease. Patients are offered and encouraged to receive testing to maintain sexual health. In the event of an issue, full treatment options are presented at low or no cost and

To achieve these goals individuals must be educated and provided with information that will assist with making better choices and providing individuals with the resources that will allow them to seek appropriate care. According to the World Health Organization, public health programs that has encompasses these factors has been successful with reducing the number of cases of sexually transmitted disease that are reported each year. For example a study conducted in Norway where there was a decrease of approximately 10,000 for new cases of sexually transmitted diseases once an effective public health program was established within the community. The program was able to improve the prevention and treatment of citizens within the community. To achieve this results worldwide primary and secondary prevention programs need to be enhanced and integrated into community health care systems that will be accessible to everyone within the

The continuous rising health anxieties for the United States, adolescence is the increasing rate of teenagers that are going through an outburst with diverse sexual transmitted diseases. Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are infections that you can get from having sexual intercourse with someone who has the infection(s) and or are creating one through that exposing period. “The causes of STDs are surrounded by multiple bacteria, parasites and viruses invading the areas used during intercourse, such as oral, anal and through regular sexual encounters. There are more than 20 types of STDs” (Nursingceu), including the following: Hepatitis, Chlamydia, Herpes, Scabies, Syphilis, Gonorrhoea, Genital Warts, Public Lice and Pelvic Inflammatory

With progressing attitudes towards sex and greater acceptance of alternative sexual behaviours, the amount of people engaging in a wider variety of sexual behaviours has increased tremendously over the years. With greater participation in sexual behaviour comes a greater risk of pregnancy and contracting and passing STIs.

The research literature suggests that there is a limited amount of information regarding STI’s in relation to infertility later in life amongst adolescents and young adults. There was a clear explanation of the purpose of the study. The study states that STI’s such as Chlamydia and Gonorrhea are often symptomless and detrimental to our health (e.g. causing infertility issues). Since young people are amongst the highest risk group for STI’s, researchers wanted to assess the current knowledge of adolescents and young adults about STI’s in relation to infertility. Goundry, Finlay, and Llewellyn (2013) states, “this study aimed to identify young people’s knowledge and beliefs about the link between untreated STI’s and infertility.”

Sexually transmitted diseases as a whole affect millions of people in the United States and around the world each year, causing significant morbidity and mortality.

According to www.healthypeople.gov/2020 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that there are approximately 19 million new sexually transmitted infections (STIs) every year with almost half of them being diagnosed among young adults ages 15 to 24. The financial impact of these commonly transmitted diseases on the healthcare system is estimated to be as high as sixteen billion dollars annually. Often times these cases of sexually transmitted diseases go unreported and undiagnosed. For example, the cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis that are reported may only represent a small part of the true influence these infections truly have on our nation’s healthcare system

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are caused by more than 25 infectious pathogens transmitted from one person to the other during anal, vaginal as well as oral intercourse. More so, infected pregnant women can transmit STIs to infants in utero, during birth, or through breastfeeding. The most common STIs in the U.S. include chlamydia, gonorrhea, genital herpes, human papillomavirus, trichomoniasis, and bacterial vaginosis (Buttaro, Trybulski, Bailey, & Sandberg-Cook, 2013). According to the Centers for disease control and prevention, CDC (2015), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is a common STD affecting more than 1.2 million people in the United States (CDC, 2015). Compared to men, women are more biologically susceptible to STIs. Adolescents and young adults are at higher risk of transmitting STIs due to their sexual behaviors that consists of several partners, unsafe sex without condoms, and endocervical ectopia in female patients (Buttaro et al., 2013).

The sexual health issues in this scenario are Ms Q is experiencing sexual abuse from a family member (a relationship of trust), she is unable to make healthy decisions about her sexual health out of fear, she is at risk of STI’s, unwanted pregnancies. She is experiencing and physical and mental abuse that puts her at risk for harm, prevents her from making decision about her own sexual, physical and mental health. This controlling and abusive relationship violates her personal legal rights to make her own decision about her sexual health and puts her at further risk for more physical, sexual and mental health issues in the future. This type of abuse will potentially negatively affect her ability to have healthy sexual relationships, sexual

Undiagnosed and untreated sexually transmissible infections (STIs) have negative health outcomes for both individuals involved and the community (Strobel & Ward 2012). Higher costs to medical services are a direct result from complications such as infertility, pelvic inflammatory disease and cervical cancer caused by STIs. Risks need to be brought to the wider communities attention and messages that STIs contribute to the ‘mortality statistics through deaths associated with AIDS,

Huge strides in the United States in controlling the rate of transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has been made resulting in a significant decrease of its incidence since the epidemic advent. During the epidemic’s height in the 1980s of the United States, the CDC estimated its incidence at about 150,000 new infections per year. This figure plateaued and dropped significantly during the 1990s due to introduction of highly effective antiviral treatments and due to a overall public cultural shift with promotion of HIV education, HIV testing, and condom use, especially among the LGBT community which was affected disproportionately by HIV infection. However, during the 2000s, a small, growing trend of incidence rates was seen,

Research has shown that females who initiate intercourse in their early adolescent years are at higher risk for sexually transmitted diseases as well as cervical cancer (CDC, 2013). Males who engage in intercourse in their early adolescent years are at a higher risk for sexually transmitted diseases including HIV in those males who have sex with males. This age group is vulnerable to acquiring a higher evidence of infection due to them having multiple sex partners, improper use of condoms on a consistent basis, as well as having an increased biologic susceptibility to infection, and facing multiple obstacles to accessing health care (Forhan, Gottlieb, Sternberg, & et.al, 2009). Despite the high rates of infections documented in the adolescent population, providers frequently fail to inquire about sexual behaviors, assess STD risk, provide risk reduction counseling and