Use of The Rapid Assessment for Adolescent Preventive Services © (RAAPS) Tool for Improving Detection and Follow-up Rates in Adolescents

Abstract

A primary health concern in the adolescent population is the issue of preventable risky behaviors, which can lead to injury and even death. The primary care provider is responsible for identification of risky behavior of adolescents during preventive health visits as recommended by national guidelines. The purpose of this pilot, quasi-experimental project is to determine if use of the Rapid Assessment for Adolescent Preventive Services © (RAAPS) tool will improve detection and follow-up rates in the adolescent population. The study involves adolescents age 12-17 with fifteen retrospective and twelve post-intervention adolescent participants in the outpatient rural health setting at three primary care clinics. The student investigator incorporated educational sessions for providers in these clinics regarding the use of the RAAPS © tool. The providers implemented the use of the tool in the clinical setting. The short-term outcomes measured were the number of adolescent preventive health screens completed using the RAAPS© tool along with follow-up interventions. The results revealed an increase in detection of positive risky behavior and decrease in negative risky behavior through screening (p <.001). In addition, the follow-up intervention rates increased from the pre-post groups without significance (p=.106). The societal impacts are the long-term outcomes of the study, which include increasing the interventions provided to at-risk adolescents translating into a reduction in preventable morbidity and mortality rates in the adolescent population.