Adolescents, Sexually Transmitted Infections, and Education Using Social Media: A Review of the Literature

In the United States, sexually transmitted infections are a significant health challenge, especially in adolescents, with half of the approximately 19 million cases each year occurring in youths 15-24 years old. The purpose of the literature review was to explore social media options for their viability as tools to use for educating adolescents to make more informed sexual decisions and, therefore, reduce the risk of sexually transmitted infections. The implementation of interventions through social media could be the next breakthrough in health care to reduce the financial burden through providing cost-effective disease prevention and management support.