Arizona

Please be sure to read the data notes & limitations page. This explains many aspects of these comments, including how only changes over time can be discussed as statistically significant, and why the comparisons with national rates only discuss data for selected subgroups.

Overview of Findings

Findings for Arizona are somewhat encouraging with regard to available data between baseline and final.  Among adolescents, rates of overall mortality decreased or stayed stable, mortality rates due to motor vehicle crashes remained stable, and homicide and suicide mortality for older adolescents decreased since baseline.  However, among young adults, overall mortality rates increased. Although some changes are promising, at final, Arizona rates for most objectives compared unfavorably to national rates. The exception to this was in the area of reproductive health, where rates of sexual experience, current sexual activity, and condom use roughly match national rates.

Highlights of Findings by Objective

Jump To: Mortality; Unintentional Injury; Violence; Substance Use and Mental Health; Reproductive Health; Chronic Disease Prevention

Mortality

From baseline to final, the rate of overall mortality in Arizona decreased slightly among younger adolescents, stayed fairly stable among older adolescents, and increased among young adults; however there was variation across subgroups. Mortality rates for females increased somewhat from across all age groups. Native Americans and Blacks showed positive trends among male young adults and older adolescents with large decreases in mortality rates.  At final, rates for males were substantially higher than rates for females. Overall mortality was highest among Native Americans; rates for Blacks were second highest, followed by Hispanics, and then Whites.

Comparison with national data. As in Arizona, there was a small decrease in mortality among younger adolescents nationally; however Arizona remained mostly flat among older adolescents whereas the national rates decreased somewhat.  While mortality rates for young adults increased slightly nationally, the increase was greater in Arizona. National data also showed decreases in rates among young and older adolescent females whereas Arizona did not. Similar to Arizona, mortality decreased among Black males nationally; however national data indicated an increase in mortality among older adolescent Native American males, compared to the substantial decrease in rates in Arizona. While the national rate decreased among young adult Native American males, it was not the striking reduction as in Arizona. Among Whites, the increase in the older male adolescent age group in Arizona contrasted with national data that showed decreases in mortality for that group. The increase in mortality rates among Hispanic young adults was greater than the increase nationally. At final, rates of mortality for adolescents and young adults in Arizona were higher than national rates.  Nationally, as in Arizona, male rates were substantially higher; nationally Whites and Hispanics had similar mortality rates, whereas in Arizona, Hispanics had higher mortality rates than Whites.

Unintentional Injury

(motor vehicle crashes, safety belt use)  Please note the data for safety belt use are presented as “not wearing safety belt,” the inverse of the objective.

Adolescent mortality in Arizona due to motor vehicle crashes (MVCs) stayed almost flat from baseline among males and females, and among all age groups. While rates showed almost no change among Whites, the rate for Native Americans decreased from baseline. At final, the rate of MVC mortality for males was more than two times the rate for females. Native Americans had the highest rates, followed by Hispanics.

Comparison with national data. The national rate of adolescent MVC mortality was flat and similar to trends in Arizona, with national rates for males and females and for most race/ethnicities flat. The decrease from baseline for Arizona’s Native Americans was somewhat larger than the national decrease for that group. At final, Arizona rates of MVC mortality were slightly higher than national rates.

Final rates of safety belt use in Arizona were higher for females than for males. Whites had the highest rate, followed by Native Americans; and Hispanics had the lowest rate.

Comparison with national data. The overall final rate for adolescent safety belt use in Arizona was lower than the national rate, and comparisons differed among racial ethnic subgroups. The Arizona rate for Whites and Native American at final was similar or slightly higher than the national rate; whereas the rate for Arizona’s Blacks and Hispanics was lower than the national rate. Nationally, Hispanics had higher rates than Whites, while in Arizona, Whites had the highest rates, followed by Native Americans, Blacks, and then Hispanics at the lowest rate. The gender discrepancy in seatbelt use in Arizona state level was somewhat greater than at the national level.

Violence

(homicide, physical fighting, weapon carrying)

The rate of homicide mortality decreased slightly among older adolescents in Arizona from baseline.

Comparison with national data. National rates of homicide mortality for older adolescents stayed fairly flat, with a slight decrease. Males had a small increase among older adolescents, as compared to the decrease in Arizona.  At final, homicide rates among older adolescent males in Arizona were higher than national rates.

In Arizona, males were more than 1.5 times as likely to report physical fighting as females.  Overall, Native Americans and Blacks had the highest rate, followed by Hispanics, and then Whites.

Comparison with national data. Final rates of physical fighting in Arizona were higher than national rates. The national gender and racial/ethnic patterns matched the patterns noted in Arizona.

The final rate of weapon carrying for males in Arizona was three times the rate of females.  Overall, Native Americans were most likely to report carrying a weapon, followed by Whites, with Blacks and Hispanics reporting the lowest rates.

Comparison with national data. Rates of weapon carrying in Arizona were higher than national rates for nearly all groups, with the exception of rates for Hispanics similar within Arizona and nationally.  Nationally, the gender discrepancy was greater than in Arizona, with rates of weapon carrying for male adolescents about four times greater than for females.  As in Arizona, Native Americans and Whites reported higher national rates of weapon carrying than Blacks or Hispanics.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health

(binge drinking, marijuana use, suicide, suicide attempts requiring medical attention)

The rate of binge drinking for males in Arizona was somewhat higher than the rate for females. The rate for Hispanics was a little higher than the rate for Native Americans and Whites, with Blacks reporting the lowest rate.

Comparison with national data. At final, the patterns in national binge drinking rates were similar to Arizona rates, with male binge drinking rates a little higher than female rates.  Nationally as in Arizona, Native Americans and Whites reported the highest rates of binge drinking, and Blacks the lowest rates.

The final rate of marijuana use for males in Arizona was higher than the rate for females. Native Americans reported rates close to two times that of Blacks, Hispanics, and Whites, all with quite similar rates.

Comparison with national data. Similar to Arizona, males at final reported somewhat higher rates of marijuana than females and Native Americans had the highest rates of reported use, followed by Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics with more similar rates.

The rate of adolescent suicide mortality in Arizona decreased slightly for older adolescents. 

Comparison with national data. The national rate of adolescent suicide mortality followed a similar trend as in Arizona with a slight decrease in rates among older adolescents.  At final, the rate for older adolescents and older male adolescents was higher in Arizona than the national rate.

The final rate of suicide attempts requiring medical attention was similar for adolescent males and females in Arizona. Blacks reported the highest rates, followed by Whites, and then Hispanics.

Comparison with national data. National rates of adolescent suicide attempts requiring medical attention were higher in Arizona overall than nationally. Nationally, the rate for females was higher than the rate for males, in contrast to matching rates in Arizona. As in Arizona, Blacks also reported the highest rates nationally.

Reproductive Health

(sexual inexperience, no current sexual activity, condom use)

Please note that for the first two objectives, the text and tables present findings about adolescents who are sexually experienced and currently sexually active, the inverse of the actual objective.  For the third objective, the table presents findings for lack of condom use, the inverse of the objective. (See Data Notes & Limitations).

At final, male adolescents in Arizona were more likely to report having engaged in sexual intercourse than female adolescents. The rate was highest for Blacks, followed by Hispanics, and then Whites.

Comparison with national data. Arizona rates of sexually experienced adolescents were close to national rates.  As in Arizona, the national rate for males was higher than the rate for females; the national racial/ethnic patterns matched the pattern noted in Arizona, however national rates were higher for blacks and lower for Hispanics than rates in Arizona.  This resulted in a greater difference in rates between Blacks and Hispanics in the national sample, compared to the Arizona state data.

The final rate of sexually experienced adolescents in Arizona reporting current sexual activity was almost identical between males and females. Blacks had the highest rates, followed by Hispanics and then Whites.

Comparison with national data. The overall rate of currently sexually active adolescents in Arizona was the same as the national rate. Nationally, females reported slightly higher rates than males, in contrast to the equal rates between males and females in Arizona.   As in Arizona, nationally Blacks had the highest rate of current sexual activity, followed by Hispanics and then Whites.

At final, males were a good deal more likely to report condom use than females.  This gender disparity was substantial among Whites and Hispanics, the only two groups with gender and race/ethnicity data available. Condom use was fairly consistent between Whites and Hispanics, with males reporting similar rates of use, and White females reporting somewhat greater use than Hispanic females.

Comparison with national data. The overall rate of condom use in Arizona at final was similar to the national rate. The national gender pattern matched the pattern noted in Arizona, however, gender disparities in condom use were larger in Arizona than nationally. At final, there were greater differences in condom use between Whites and Hispanics nationally than within Arizona.  Nationally, Whites reported the highest rates of condom use, followed by Blacks, then Asians, and then Hispanics with the lowest rates.

Chronic Disease Prevention

(tobacco use)

At final, adolescent males in Arizona were more likely to report tobacco use than females, with Whites reporting the greatest use, followed by Hispanic and Blacks reporting similar rates of use.

Comparison with national data. The overall rate of tobacco use nationally and within Arizona was almost identical at final.  National patterns were similar to Arizona with males reporting greater use than females and Whites reporting greater use than Blacks or Hispanics.

Additional data may be available at: http://www.azhealthinfo.org/showPage.cfm?pageID=110&level=2