Purpose: To compare the demographic, behavioral, psychosocial, and academic characteristics of users versus nonusers of inner-city junior high school-based health clinics.
Methods: Students who used (n = 1344) and did not use (n = 2394) the health clinics based in four junior high schools in an economically disadvantaged, medically underserved New York City school district were compared on their responses to a health risk survey administered at the end of the 1991/92 academic year.
Results: Compared to students who did not use the clinics, students who used the clinics were more likely to have had unprotected sexual intercourse, to have had suicide intentions or attempts, to be suspended from school for fighting, to be exposed to violence and the illicit drug culture, to hold beliefs favoring involvement in sexual intercourse and suicidality, and to have failed subjects in school.
Conclusions: Users of these junior high school-based health clinics are engaging in behaviors and hold beliefs that place them at risk for serious adverse health outcomes. School-based clinics have the potential to provide early intervention for these high risk adolescents.