Center for Adolescent Health

The Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) was designed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and is widely utilized across the country. The survey is conducted by the state and nation every 2 years in order to track the prevalence of health risks such as injuries, violence, alcohol, tobacco, and drug use, sexual behaviors, nutrition, and physical activity. This information is important to collect at the national level, but it can also be beneficial to collect this data on the local level in order to compare the risk behaviors of local teens with those of teens in other communities in Ohio as well as with those behaviors in other urban communities across the country. In the future, these data can help the community plan and fund new health programs or community health intitiatives, as well as provide a way to judge how well existing programs are working.

HISTORY

The Center for Adolescent Health has been a collaborating partner with the Cleveland Municipal School District 's Wellness Block Grant funded by the Ohio Family and Children First Council through the Governor's office since 1995 and has been actively involved with the Youth Risk Behavior Survey since 1996. In 1999-2000, administration of the YRBS was included in the Child and Family Health Service/Maternal and Child Health (CFHS) program. The plan called for expansion of survey administration into high schools throughout Cuyahoga County over a five-year period and has resulted in the The 2002 First Ring YRBS Report, The 2003 Outer Ring YRBS Report, The 2004 CMSD YRBS Report and the 2004 Cuyahoga County YRBS Report, which combines data from 2002-2004 into a comprehensive picture of Cuyahoga County. In addition, the survey process has been expanded into middle schools, making the 2005 CMSD Middle School YRBS Report and the 2004-5 First Ring YRBS Report now available.

COLLABORATION

Interest in local data has increased recently as the value of this information has been recognized. School-based health and risk behavior surveillance has been included as an integral component of local grants currently sponsored by the CDC Steps to a Healthier US, Child and Family Health Services, Cuyahoga County Board of Health, Cuyahoga County Comprehensive Partnership for Tobacco Reduction, the Cuyahoga County Commissioners Office and the Drug-Free Communities Support Program through the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Together, with the Center for Adolescent Health, these partners have formed an adolescent surviellance planning committee to pool resources and help to create a sustainable survey process throughout Cuyahoga County to insure that reliable and consistant data collection can be maintained in Cuyahoga County well into the future. This will allow the county to track changes in behavior over time, and provide a consistant source of data for schools, community organizations and local government who work to improve the health of adolescents in Cuyahoga County. The planning committee has also made decisions to provide some specialized surveys for in-depth analysis of hot-button topics, such as tobacco use.

SURVEYS IN CLEVELAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS

The Center for Adolescent Health (CAH) has been a collaborating partner with the Cleveland Municipal School District (CMSD) since 1995 and has been actively involved with administration of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey since 1996. A comprehensive YRBS survey was first piloted in Cleveland Public High Schools in 2001. This survey was not representative of the entire school district, but provided some preliminary information which helped to inform the CMSD's Comprehensive School Health Plan begun in 2002. This effort has been consistently supported by the Child and Family Health Services Grant and the Cuyahoga County Board of Health, which has provided annual funding for youth risk surveillance throughout Cuyahoga County. As a result, in 2004, over 2300 students from 18 CMSD high schools completed the YRBS resulting in the compilation of the 2004 CMSD YRBS Report.

Also in 2004, the Cleveland Department of Public Health sought and received a Steps to a Healthier US award dedicated to reaching every member of the City of Cleveland in order to reduce high local rates of asthma, diabetes and obesity by improving nutrition and physical activity and reducing tobacco use and exposure. This effort is further expanding the process of data collection in CMSD and has resulted in the 2005 CMSD Middle School YRBS Report containing information about the risk behaviors of Cleveland 7th and 8th graders. This project will continue to fund data collection in Cleveland for the next few years, and plans to conduct surveys in Cleveland are private schools in the Spring of 2006, and then return to collect follow-up information about Cleveland Public high school students in 2007.

SURVEYS IN CLEVELAND SUBURBAN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

The 2002 YRBS was conducted in First Ring suburban school districts in April of 2002. Approximately 3500 students completed the survey, resulting in a representative sample and allowing the compilation of a large document, The 2002 Inner Ring YRBS Report, which outlines the results of this survey and provides the schools and their surrounding community with an accurate profile of the risks students in the Inner Ring are facing.

For more information about the survey, the survey process, or to find out how your school can participate, please contact Jean Frank, Manager of Community Initiatives, at (216) 368-5913.

For more information about the statistics, the research findings, or for information about data sharing, please contact Joshua Terchek, Data Manager, at (216) 368-3889.

YOUTH RISK BEHAVIOR SURVEY (YRBS)