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In the U.S., about 410,000 adolescents give birth annually; 80% of these pregnancies are unintended. Despite the wide array of available contraception, prevalence of contraceptive use in this teen population remains disturbingly low. Investigators explored the associations between contraceptive use and incidence of unintended pregnancies in adolescents. Data were obtained through the CDC's Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System. The sample included 9779 adolescent mothers (age range, 11–17; 55% non-Latina white) from 30 participating states.
Most participants (79%) stated that their pregnancies and births were unintended. Of the 82% who responded to questions about contraceptive use, more than half were nonusers at the time of conceptio…