Developing and conducting a health risk behavior survey among school-aged students.

Purpose: To conduct a survey in the school setting which inquires about health risk behaviors among students in grades 7-12.

Method: The survey was designed by the National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in conjunction with many federal and state agencies, to monitor behaviors in the following six areas: unintentional and intentional injuries, tobacco use, alcohol and drug use, sexual behaviors, dietary behaviors, and physical activity. Surveys are administered at the national and state levels and can be optionally administered by local school districts. The standard survey instrument allows for comparisons of national, state, and, where appropriate, local data. Computer software allows for the selection of a random sample and when a sufficient response rate is achieved, survey results can be generalized to the entire sampling frame. Standard software packages can be used for analysis of the data.

Results: The Youth Risk Behavior Survey developed by the CDC provides a useful and practical tool to monitor health risk behaviors in adolescent populations. This type of instrument may prove useful to public health professionals in other countries.