An Alternative Technique for Youth Risk Surveillance Outside of the School System.

PURPOSE: When school districts choose not to participate in adolescent health behavior surveys, tracking adolescent health indicators can be challenging. We conducted a countywide youth behavior survey outside of the school system. Our purpose is to describe alternative methods used for gathering these data reliably and ethically.

METHODS: We implemented two parallel surveys with youth ages 14-19 residing in a mid-sized county with urban, suburban, and rural neighborhoods. An anonymous phone-based survey used computer-assisted telephone interviewing with a live interviewer in conjunction with an interactive voice response system to survey youth via random digit dialing of landlines and cell phones. A concurrent in-person anonymous survey was conducted with marginalized youth (from juvenile detention centers, shelters, and residential facilities), using audio computer-assisted self-interviewing technology. The survey measures included the Centers for Disease Control Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System and additional questions about social supports, neighborhood, and adverse childhood experiences.

RESULTS: Data were collected between February and December 2014. The phone-based sample recruited 1813 participants; the marginalized sample included 262 youth. Several strategies ensured anonymity and reduced coercion. The final phone-based sample was similar to demographics of the county population. The marginalized youth sample captured out-of-home youth who may have been missed with phone-based sampling alone.

CONCLUSIONS: We review alternative strategies for obtaining population-based adolescent health data without the cooperation of schools. These techniques can provide a basis to collect data that may help direct resources and policies relevant to needs of local youth.