Age-related health risk behaviors of adolescents with physical disabilities.

Objective: To investigate age-related differences in health risk behaviors in 11-12-, 13-14-, and 15-16-year-old adolescents with physical disabilities.

Method: Health survey data from 319 adolescents with physical disabilities were compared with the same data from 7,020 adolescents in a national sample.

Results: Significant age-related differences were found for having tried smoking, smoking, having tasted an alcoholic drink, having been drunk, and using prescription drugs for recreational purposes.