Evaluation of the Consensus Health Status Indicator for assessing adolescent pregnancies and births

The authors used vital statistics and population data for DeKalb County, GA, in an evaluation of the accuracy of the Consensus Health Status Indicator for assessing adolescent pregnancies and births. The indicator used was the number of births to females 10-17 years of age, expressed as a percentage of all births in the population. The investigators found no significant changes in the proportions of births to adolescents for the period 1982-90. Births to adolescents were 5.3 percent of all births during 1982-84 and 5.2 percent during 1988-90. However, the pregnancy rate for adolescents in those years increased significantly, from 27.9 per 1,000 births for 1982-84 to 33.1 per 1,000 for 1988-90. The results indicate that, in localities with substantial changes in the age distribution of the population, the health status indicator does not adequately reflect trends in pregnancies among those 10-17 years of age.