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Reproductive intention screening in primary care settings
The paper was co-authored by Meredith Manze and Heidi Jones, both CUNY SPH faculty members, as well as several other contributors, and was published in the journal Family Practice.
The study is a systematic review of the impact of including reproductive intention screening in primary care on health outcomes. The researchers found only nine published articles of prospective studies with comparison groups, from which modest improvements in knowledge and behaviors were seen. They conclude that while including a question about pregnancy intentions in the primary care setting has the potential to improve patient outcomes, more high quality studies are needed to test its impact on health outcomes before making wide scale recommendations for its inclusion in the primary care encounter.
Discussing the findings, co-author Dr. Jones explains, “Given how tight time is with primary care providers under the current U.S. health care structure, we want to be sure that any new asks of these providers will truly benefit patients. Understanding patients’ reproductive health needs during the primary care encounter has the potential to improve patient health, but the evidence base is not strong enough yet to recommend it universally.”