Purpose: To describe adolescents' experience with treatment adherence when prescribed antibiotics for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in emergency departments (ED).
Methods: Adolescents diagnosed with STIs in two EDs and prescribed outpatient treatment were interviewed to identify barriers and facilitators to treatment adherence.
Results: Of 26 participants, 46.2% filled their prescriptions, 38.5% returned to the ED for treatment, 7.7% received treatment elsewhere, and 7.7% received no treatment. All adolescents who filled their prescriptions notified caregivers of their diagnosis, compared with 50.0% who returned to the ED (P = 0.01). Adolescents identified cost, transportation, lack of insurance card, and lack of knowledge as perceived barriers to treatment adherence. Less than half of the participants were interested in school-based health clinics due to anonymity concerns. Most expressed interest in using mobile health (mHealth) to overcome adherence challenges.
Conclusions: Adolescents identified multiple barriers to treatment adherence. Future work should explore the role of caregiver communication and incorporation of mHealth.
Keywords: Adolescents; Mobile health; Sex; Sexually transmitted infections; Treatment adherence.
Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier Inc.