ABSTRACT
Objectives: Knowledge of trends in adolescent conception rates can aid in delivery of targeted contraceptive and prenatal resources. Conception rates during the COVID-19 pandemic years (2020–2021) are compared to pre-pandemic years (2016–2019) in Kingston, ON. Methods: Patients aged ≤19 at estimated date of conception between 2016–2021 who were seen for a pregnancy related visit at Kingston Health Sciences Centre were included. Pregnancies that ended <20 weeks gestational age (GA) were captured using ICD-10 procedure codes for pregnancy loss or termination. Data for births that occurred ≥20 weeks GA were obtained from the BORN database. Month and year of conception were calculated using chart review based on diagnostic imaging reports or provider estimates of GA. Results: To date, 728 adolescent conceptions have been captured between January 1st, 2016, and July 31st, 2020, with 53.7% of these pregnancies ending <20 weeks GA. Overall, there has been a decline in adolescent conception rates between January 2016–April 2020 (test for trend P < 0.001). Contrary to published trends of peak adolescent conceptions in March 2004–2008, mean conceptions were highest in January (mean 13.5 ± 2.4) during 2016–2019. Conclusions: Conception rates in Kingston’s adolescent population are decreasing. Further, current monthly conception rates differ from previously established trends and provide opportunity to deliver targeted contraceptive and prenatal resources. Data collection will continue until September 2022 and will be correlated with governmental COVID-19 lockdowns to determine if conception rates were affected by public health measures during the pandemic. Keywords: adolescent conception;Kingston, Ontario;COVID-19;trends