Inequalities in sexual and reproductive outcomes among women aged 16-24 in England (2012-2019)

Background: Women aged 16-24 in England have a high burden of sexual and reproductive morbidity, with particularly poor outcomes among people living in more deprived areas (including racially minoritised populations). This analysis used national data to examine the disparities within sexual and reproductive outcomes among this population and to assess whether the patterns of inequality were consistent across all outcomes.

Methods: Within this ecological study, univariable and multivariable Poisson regression analyses of neighbourhood-level data from national data sets were carried out to investigate the relationships of deprivation and ethnicity with each of six dependent variables: gonorrhoea and chlamydia testing rates, gonorrhoea and chlamydia test positivity rates, and abortion and repeat abortion rates.

Results: When comparing Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) decile 1 (most deprived) and IMD decile 10 (least deprived), chlamydia (RR 0.65) and gonorrhoea (0.79) testing rates, chlamydia (0.70) and gonorrhoea (0.34) positivity rates, abortion rates (0.45) and repeat abortion rates (0.72) were consistently lower in IMD decile 10 (least deprived). Similarly, chlamydia (RR 1.24) and gonorrhoea positivity rates (1.92) and repeat abortion rates (1.31) were higher among black women than white women. Results were similar when both ethnicity and deprivation were incorporated into multivariable analyses.

Conclusion: We found similar patterns of outcome inequality across a range of sexual and reproductive outcomes, despite multiple differences in the drivers of each outcome. Our analysis suggests that there are broad structural causes of inequality across sexual and reproductive health that particularly impact the health of deprived and black populations.