1. Sarah Flicker 1 ; Amrita Ghai 6 ; Robb Travers 3 ; June Larkin2; Crystal Layne 4 ; Susan Flynn 4 ; Adrian Guta 2 ; Roxana Salehi 6 ; Jason Pole 2 ; Kristin McIlroy 2 1.Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University, Toronto, ON; 2. University of Toronto, Toronto, ON; 3. Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, ON; 4. Planned Parenthood, Toronto, ON; 5. POGO, Toronto, ON; 6. York University, Toronto, ON Clinical Encounters: Toronto youth experiences with sexual health clinics For more information contact: Flicker@yorku.ca Access to accurate information regarding STIs, HIV, pregnancy, and sexual health services is crucial for healthy sexual development in youth. This is the period where young people begin to make decisions about themselves as sexual beings and where their first sexual experiences often occur 1. Accessing appropriate sexual health information and preventative care from service providers prior to becoming sexually active has been shown to prevent unwanted pregnancies and STIs. 2 Background Methods The Toronto Teen Survey (TTS) used a community based research approach to survey 1,216 youth through 90 workshops conducted by our trained youth advisory board. Youth were asked: if they were going to services for sexual health reasons, what kinds of services they accessed, to rate their experiences and what might promote or discourage access. Percentage of youth who have visited clinics for sexual health reasons VariableOR (95% CI)P Biological Sex Male Female*1.70 (1.16-2.48).006 Age 18 13*0.12 (0.05-0.27)<.001 14*0.21 (0.10-0.43)<.001 15*0.27 (0.16-0.47)<.001 16*0.30 (0.17-0.53)<.001 170.82 (0.48-1.40).46 Years in Canada Born in Canada Not born in Canada, lived in Canada 0-3 years1.81 (0.98-3.34).06 Not born in Canada, lived in Canada 4 + years1.03 (0.64-1.65).90 “Have you had sex” No Yes*8.93 (5.79-13.78)<.001 Not sure2.38 (0.99-5.76).054 Sexual Orientation Straight LGB2PQ1.84 (0.77-4.40).17 Questioning2.21 (0.76-6.40).15 Race White Aboriginal0.58 (0.13-2.58).47 Asian*0.21 (0.10-0.42)<.001 Black*0.47 (0.28-0.81).006 Other1.18 (0.52-2.68).69 Multi-Racial0.58 (0.31-1.08).09 Religion None Catholic1.23 (0.72-2.09).45 Protestant1.28 (0.75-2.18).37 Muslim0.49 (0.21-1.14).10 Other1.38 (0.66-2.90).39 Parental Education University <High school1.27 (0.58-2.81).55 High school0.80 (0.49-1.31).38 College0.98 (0.61-1.57).92 Don’t know0.62 (0.33-1.18).15 Predictors of Clinic Visits (n=1047) Youth who are sexually active are 9 times more likely to seek out sexual health services compared to those who have not yet had sex. Young women in the TTS are twice as likely to access sexual health services compared to young men. As youth age, they are more and more likely to access services. LGB2 and Questioning youth are twice as likely to access sexual health services compared to heterosexual youth. Asian, Black and Muslim youth were less likely to access services. While we can’t speak with the same certainty because of the small numbers that we surveyed, Aboriginal youth were also less likely to access services compared to White youth. Some youth are more likely to visit clinics than others Despite the importance of sexcare, few teenagers use the services available to them. Gendered interventions are needed to improve teen ual health clinic access. Conclusions Attributes ranked as most important facilitators to clinical access by gender Reasons for clinic visits by gender Young women who have attended clinics are most likely to go for birth control, pap smears and pregnancy tests. Young men who have attended clinics are most likely to access free condoms, information about safer sex and HIV or STI testing. Generally, young women rated their experiences accessing sexual health services more favorably than young men or transgendered teens. Youth of all genders did not feel that clinics were particularly positive towards youth. The most important things that young women want to see in a sexual health clinic is that it is confidential/private, that it be a space where they are comfortable asking questions and that it is non-judgmental. For young men, the most important factors were that a clinic provides good information, that the location was close by or easy to get to and that they feel comfortable asking questions. Gender Matters sexually active female older White LGB2Q Youth MOST likely to go to clinical services male younger Black Asian Youth LEAST likely to go to clinical services