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Home > Health Sciences > JHDRP > Vol. 12 (2018-2019) > Iss. 4

 

Keywords

Adolescent risk assessment; risk behavior; University of Michigan Health System; questionnaire

Disciplines

Medicine and Health Sciences

Abstract

Adolescents are often likely to engage in perilous behaviors during their transitional years from youth to adulthood. Nearly 75% of the primary causes of death in the adolescent population are of preventable causes. In order to address the harmful issues facing this young population today, researchers at the University of Michigan developed the Rapid Assessment for Adolescent Preventive Services (RAAPS), a 21-question risk screening examination that identifies the behaviors contributing the most to adolescent morbidity, mortality, and social problems.

Over the course of this study, beginning in 2015, researchers utilized the RAAPS to gather data from University of Michigan Health System (UMHS) health clinics around Southeast Michigan. Clinic patients between the ages of 11 and 21 were administered the questionnaire as part of their primary care visit. The simple yes/no structure of each question allowed for a straightforward entry of data that could be analyzed to compare different factors affecting adolescents. Data from the assessment was entered into the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) statistical software for an in-depth analysis by researchers through the use of the Chi-squared test for categorical variables.

Results regarding the data obtained from the assessment are still pending at the time of abstract submission; however, it is predicted that significant indications of harmful behavior will be linked to factors such as sexual orientation and/or median household income-level. These findings may suggest a new direction in which physicians can address issues for adolescents who identify with certain characteristics.

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