Confidentiality in the Provider-Adolescent Relationship: Talk About It

Concern about potential lack of confidentiality in encounters with physicians is reported by adolescents as a barrier to seeking healthcare. To better understand this issue, researchers conducted a national text-message poll of 1268 youth aged 14 to 24 years, including four qualitative probes on this topic. One was: “Has any healthcare provider ever talked to you about confidentiality? If so, what did they say?” In others, participants were asked about their views and experiences with confidentiality in the receipt of healthcare.

The overall response rate was 75%. A majority of respondents were female (56%) and white (70%), and 30% were of low socioeconomic status. Over half (57%) had not discussed confidentiality with a healthcare provider.…