AIM This study sought to identify adolescents' health information sources and determine the gap between what adolescents want to hear and what they actually hear from their healthcare providers (HCPs), a proxy for unmet health needs. METHODS A cross-sectional study was conducted in four high schools conveniently selected in Jamaica to ensure adequate representation in rural and urban locales. Adolescents 11-19 years old with relevant assent/consent completed a paper-based self-administered questionnaire. Questions were adapted from the Young Adult Health Care Survey to determine proportion of adolescents receiving confidential care, the level of counselling offered and difference between location and unmet needs. RESULTS Adolescents acknowledged multiple sources of information, with urban adolescents reporting television, radio and parents as sources more frequently than in rural setting (p < 0.05). They most commonly wanted to discuss weight management (n = 308, 64.2%), nutrition (n = 418, 87.1%), exercise (n = 361, 75.2%); and emotions they are experiencing (n = 246, 51.3%). Unmet needs differed by location; more rural than urban adolescents found that their desire to discuss school performance (p < 0.05) and sexual orientation (p < 0.05) was unmet, while more urban youth felt their need for discussions about STIs was unmet (p < 0.05), when compared to their rural counterparts. CONCLUSION This study highlights that while there is some access to health information in Jamaica, especially via television, radio and internet, the needs of the adolescent population remain unmet. HCPs need to employ a patient-centred approach where confidentiality is established and screening is done for unmet needs in an effort to optimize health outcomes.

中文翻译：

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青少年健康信息需求与中等收入国家收到的信息之间的差异。

目的 本研究旨在确定青少年的健康信息来源，并确定青少年希望听到的信息与他们实际从医疗保健提供者 (HCP) 那里听到的信息之间的差距，这是未满足的健康需求的代表。方法 在牙买加方便地选择的四所高中进行了一项横断面研究，以确保在农村和城市地区有足够的代表性。经相关同意/同意的 11-19 岁青少年完成了纸质自填问卷。问题改编自青年成人保健调查，以确定接受保密护理的青少年比例、提供的咨询水平以及地点和未满足需求之间的差异。结果 青少年承认有多种信息来源，城市青少年报告电视、收音机和父母作为来源的频率高于农村环境 (p < 0.05)。他们最常想讨论体重管理（n = 308，64.2%）、营养（n = 418，87.1%）、运动（n = 361，75.2%）；和他们正在经历的情绪（n = 246，51.3%）。未满足的需求因地点而异；相比之下，与城市青少年相比，更多农村青少年发现他们讨论学校表现 (p < 0.05) 和性取向 (p < 0.05) 的愿望未得到满足，而更多城市青少年认为他们讨论性传播感染的需求未得到满足 (p < 0.05)给他们的农村同行。结论 本研究强调，虽然在牙买加可以获得一些健康信息，尤其是通过电视、广播和互联网，但青少年人口的需求仍未得到满足。