Seventeen Days is a theory-based interactive film designed to educate young women about contraception and sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
Overview
Designed for a clinic setting, this program uses an interactive DVD to educate young women about contraception and sexually transmitted diseases. The target audience for the program is sexually active girls ages 14-18. The DVD presents different scenarios involving decisions that young women face in relationships, identifies choice points, suggests risk-reduction strategies, and allows viewers to practice what they would do in a similar situation. Participants are given the flexibility to select which video segments to view and/or review the different segments in the video program at their own pace. This is a 45-minute video (users can skip sessions).
Curriculum
The video consists of four vignettes, a condom demonstration, and three minidocumentaries. The vignettes focus on reproductive health and STD knowledge and are divided into four related storylines, each with a unique set of issues and possible outcomes. The mini-documentaries are each 5-7 minutes and focus on anatomy, sexually transmitted infections and diseases, and contraception. Each mini-documentary presents real-life stories and footage relevant to the topic; expert commentary from providers, clinicians, scientists, teachers, etc; and graphic animations of anatomy and other medical subjects.
Results
Six months after the intervention, participants who watched the video were significantly less likely to report having been diagnosed with an STD.
Evidence Summary
Study Setting
Four clinic-based healthcare sites in Pittsburgh, PA
Study Sample
- 300 urban adolescent females
- Age range 14 to 18 years
- 75% African American, 15% white, 10% other
- All sexually experienced in six months before study enrollment
Study Design
Randomized controlled trial. Study participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups: (1) a treatment group that watched the interactive What Could You Do? video, (2) a control group that received the same information from the video but as a book, and (3) a control group that received commercially available brochures on STD risk. Surveys were administered
immediately before the intervention and at follow-ups conducted 3 and 6 months after the intervention. Biological testing for chlamydia was conducted at the 6-month follow-up.
Study Rating
The study met the review criteria for a high study rating.
Study Findings
Three months after the intervention:
Participants who watched the video were significantly more likely to report having been abstinent in the past 3 months. The study found no statistically significant impacts on self-reported condom use in the past 3 months.
Six months after the intervention:
Participants who watched the video were significantly less likely to report having been diagnosed with an STD. The study found no statistically significant program impacts on rates of abstinence in the past three months, self-reported condom use in the past 3 months, or the biological tests for chlamydia.
The study also examined program impacts on measures of STD knowledge and self-reported condom failures. Findings for these outcomes were not considered for the review because they fell outside the scope of the review.
Reference
Downs, J. S., Murray, P. J., Bruine de Bruin, W., Penrose, J., Palmgren, C., & Fischhoff, B. (2004). Interactive video behavioral intervention to reduce adolescent females’ STD risk: A randomized controlled trial. Social Science & Medicine, 59(8), 1561-1572.