Behavioural interventions for young women which aim to promote sexual behaviours protective of STI transmission can be effective, primarily at encouraging condom use. Future evaluations should include a greater focus on HPV and its link to cervical cancer, with long-term follow-up to assess impact on behaviour change, rates of HPV infection and progression to cervical cancer. Studies should use an RCT design where possible with integral process evaluation and cost-effectiveness analysis where appropriate. Given the predominance of USA studies in this systematic review evaluations conducted in other countries would be particularly useful.
Interactive video behavioral intervention to reduce adolescent females' STD risk: a randomized controlled trial.
A longitudinal randomized design was used to evaluate the impact of a theoretically based, stand-alone interactive video intervention on 300 urban adolescent girls' (a) knowledge about sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), (b) self-reported sexual risk behavior, and (c) STD acquisition. It was compared to two controls, representing high-quality informational interventions. One used the same content in book form; the other used commercially available brochures. Following randomization, the interventions were administered at baseline, with booster sessions at 1, 3, and 6 months. Self-reports revealed that those assigned to the interactive video were significantly more likely to be abstinent in the first 3 months following initial exposure to the intervention, and experienced fewer condom failures in the following 3 months, compared to controls. Six months after enrollment, participants in the video condition were significantly less likely to report having been diagnosed with an STD. A non-significant trend in data from a clinical PCR assay of Chlamydia trachomatis was consistent with that finding.