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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Janey Sturtz McMillen, PhD, Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, CB 8185, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-8185, (919) 966-7826, janey_mcmillen@unc.edu, Bradley J. McMillen, PhD, Evaluation Section, North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, 301 North Wilmington Street, Raleigh, NC 27601, Rune J. Simeonsson, PhD, MSPH, North Carolina Office on Disability and Health, University of North Carolina, CB# 8185, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-8185, and Don Lollar, EdD, Office of Disability and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4770 Buford Highway, Building 101, F29, Atlanta, GA 30341-3724.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) monitors health-risk behaviors corresponding to the leading causes of death among youth and young adults through the administration of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS; Kann, et al., 1999). Although the YRBS is not explicitly designed to gather data from children with disabilities, the state of North Carolina included disability indicators in its High School YRBS for the first time in 2001 to estimate the prevalence of risk behaviors for students with and without disabilities. The survey was completed in the Spring of 2001 by 2,548 students in 62 high schools across the state (overall response rate=73%). Of those, 23.5% answered affirmatively to one or more of the disability indicator questions; these students comprised the group of students with disabilities, and their responses to the survey questions were compared to the remaining students without disabilities. Results indicated that students with disabilities were more likely to report engaging in behaviors that result in injuries (not wearing bicycle/motorcycle helmets, drinking and driving; riding with a drinking driver, carrying weapons, fighting); feeling depressed or considering suicide; using tobacco, marijuana, cocaine, and other drugs; and engaging in unhealthy weight loss behaviors. Students with disabilities were also more likely to report having had property stolen or damaged at school, a low quality of life, and poor health status. Discussion of results will focus on implications for prevention initiatives and the importance of tracking the prevalence of health-risk behaviors in children and youth with disabilities.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Disability,
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.