The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #62344

Willi Horner-Johnson, PhD¹, Charles E. Drum, JD, PhD¹, Nasreen Abdullah¹, and Beth Morrell, MPH². (1) Oregon Office on Disability and Health, Oregon Health & Science University, PO Box 574, Portland, OR 97207-0574, 503-494-9273, hornerjo@ohsu.edu, (2) Oregon Office on Disability and Health, Oregon Health Sciences University, PO Box 574, Portland, OR 97207

The Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) was developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to track health risk factors among adolescents. The survey has been administered in selected Oregon public schools every other year since 1991. In 1999, the Oregon high school YRBS included disability identifiers. A total of 22,913 usable surveys were received from 109 Oregon high schools in 1999. About 31% of the students answered affirmatively to one or more of the disability identifiers. These students were compared to students without disabilities on the determinants of health covered by the survey. Results indicated that students with disabilities were more likely to report receiving unwanted sexual attention and harassment, unwanted sexual touching, and being forced to have sexual intercourse. Students with disabilities reported being hit or slapped by a boyfriend or girlfriend at higher rates than students without disabilities. A similar pattern was apparent for being hit or slapped by an adult family member. Students with disabilities were more likely to report feeling sad and hopeless, and to indicate that they had seriously considered suicide, that they had attempted suicide one or more times, and that their suicide attempts had resulted in injury. Students with disabilities were also more likely to have engaged in smoking, drinking, and marijuana use, and to have started substance use at an earlier age. The implications of these findings for Oregon policy and intervention efforts will be discussed, along with plans for future tracking of health risks for youth with disabilities.

Learning Objectives:

• Participants will be aware of the differences between students with and without disabilities on the behavioral and social determinants of health addressed by the YRBS.
• Participants will understand the implications of policy decisions affecting health interventions for youth.
• Participants will understand the importance of surveillance of health risk factors among youth with disabilities.

Keywords: Adolescent Health, 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.