Healthy People 2010 objectives for unintentional injury and violence among adolescents. Trends from the National Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 1999-2009

In 2000, the USDHHS released Healthy People 2010 (HP2010), a series of disease prevention and health promotion objectives for the nation. Thirty-nine of these objectives were dedicated to injury prevention and six of these objectives related to adolescents, who were tracked through CDC's National Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS).

This paper uses national YRBS data from 1999 to 2009 to analyze overall and subgroup trends and determine progress toward targets for the following HP2010 objectives: seatbelt use (HP2010 objective 15-19); motorcycle helmet use (15-21); riding with a driver who had been drinking alcohol (26-6); physical fighting (15-38); weapon carrying on school property (15-39); and suicide attempts requiring medical attention (18-2).

The CDC conducted the national YRBS biennially from 1999 to 2009 and used similar three-stage cluster-sample designs to obtain representative samples of high school students in the U.S. This study was conducted in 2010 and used linear and quadratic time variables simultaneously in logistic regression models while controlling for gender, race/ethnicity, and grade to test for secular trends over time.

Only two objectives met their HP2010 targets: riding with a driver who had been drinking alcohol (26-6) and physical fighting (15-38). Progress was seen for four additional objectives and within some subgroups.

Substantial policy and practice changes must occur if the recently released Healthy People 2020 targets are to be met. School-, community-, and state-level policies and programs may be effective tools to prevent injuries and victimizations.