Reproductive health of young adults with physical disabilities in the U.S.

OBJECTIVE

Previous research shows reduced cervical and breast cancer screening among women with physical disabilities. However, other indicators of reproductive health have been largely ignored. We aimed to compare the reproductive health of young adults in the U.S. with and without physical disabilities in a nationally-representative sample.

METHODS

Data are from 13,819 respondents aged 18-26 who participated in Waves I (1994-1995) and III (2001-2002) of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). Using logistic regression, we examined associations between physical disability and multiple reproductive health indicators including sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing, STI diagnosis, receipt of a gynecologic exam, and cervical cancer screening. Analyses were stratified by sex and adjusted for the complex study design.

RESULTS

We identified 5.8% of respondents as having a physical disability. In multivariate analyses, females with physical disabilities had lower odds of having a Pap smear in the past 12 months than females without disabilities (OR=0.77; 95% CI: 0.61, 0.97). Physical disability was not associated with other reproductive health indicators among females or males.

CONCLUSION

We found few differences in examined reproductive health indicators of young adults with and without physical disabilities, but findings suggest differences in some screening services that merit additional study.