Florida

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 Florida from baseline to final were mixed.  While there was a slight decrease in overall mortality among younger adolescents, rates increased among older adolescents and young adults. Likewise, mortality due to motor vehicle crashes decreased among older adolescents, but increased among young adults.  There was slight increase in homicide mortality among older adolescents, but rates for other groups remained flat, as did suicide rates for all age groups.  Baseline data were not available for most objectives.

Florida compared favorably with national rates for condom use and tobacco use; was comparable to national rates in riding with a driver who had been drinking alcohol, physical fighting, weapon carrying and suicide rates; and compared unfavorably with national rates in overall adolescent mortality, motor vehicle mortality, safety belt use, adolescent suicide attempts, sexual experience, and sexual activity.

Highlights of Findings by Objective

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

Mortality

The rate of overall mortality in Florida decreased slightly from baseline among younger adolescents, but increased slightly among older adolescents and substantially among young adults.  Among older adolescents, rates decreased somewhat for females, but increased for males.  At final, the mortality rate among males was higher in every age group.  The differential between males and females was lowest among older adolescents with male rates double the rate of females; the differential was highest among young adults with male rates more than three times the rate of females. Blacks had the highest rate, followed by Whites and then Hispanics.

Comparison with national data. Overall Florida adolescent mortality was somewhat higher at final than nationally; the increase in Florida’s rates from baseline stood in contrast to a small decrease nationally among older adolescents.   National data indicated a small increase in overall mortality among young adults compared to the substantial increase in Florida.

Unintentional Injury

(motor vehicle crashes, safety belt use, & riding with a driver who has been drinking alcohol)  Please note the data for safety belt use are presented as “not wearing safety belt,” the inverse of the objective.

Adolescent mortality in Florida due to motor vehicle crashes (MVC) decreased slightly from baseline among older adolescents, but increased among young adults.  Among 15-24 year olds, rates increased somewhat for Hispanics and Whites, but decreased for Blacks.  Males at final were about three times as likely as females to die in a motor vehicle crash. Whites and Hispanics had nearly equal rates and Blacks had lower rates than either group.

Comparison with national data. The MVC mortality rate in Florida was somewhat higher than the national rate in 2007.  The increase in MVC mortality among young adults was higher in Florida, whereas nationally the rate remained fairly flat. The rate for Blacks decreased more in Florida than nationally.

In 2009, females in Florida reported somewhat higher rates of safety belt use than males. Among racial/ethnic groups, Asians had the highest rates, followed by Whites, then Hispanics and then Blacks with the lowest rates.

Comparison with national data. Safety belt use among adolescents in Florida was slightly lower than the national rate in 2009.  The national gender pattern was similar to the pattern in Florida. Nationally, as in Florida, Asians had the highest rates of seatbelt use and Blacks had the lowest; however nationally, Hispanics reported higher use than Whites.

Rates of adolescents in Florida who reported riding with a driver who had been drinking alcohol were slightly higher for females than for males overall.  Among Blacks, the rates were close to equal between males and females; among Whites and Hispanics, the rates were higher for females. Overall, Hispanics and Whites reported the highest rate of this behavior with almost equal rates, followed by Blacks, and then by Asians with the lowest rates.

Comparison with national data. The overall rate of riding with a driver who had been drinkingalcohol in Florida roughly matched the final national rate.  Unlike in Florida, nationally, males and females had roughly matching rates. Similar to the state pattern, Hispanics had the highest rates and Asians had the lowest rate nationally; however, this was followed by Blacks and then Whites, a different racial/ethnic pattern than noted in Florida.

Violence

(homicide, physical fighting, weapon carrying)

There was a slight increase in homicide mortality at final among older adolescents in Florida.  This increase was linked to an increase among older adolescent males with a substantial increase among older adolescent Black males; rates for older adolescent females and White older adolescents remained flat.  Rates for other groups were based on fewer than 20 deaths, and thus were unsuitable for analyses.  At final, older adolescent males had about four times the rate of homicide mortality as females.

Comparison with national data. Homicide rates in Florida among older adolescents were slightly higher than national rates.  National rates among older adolescents remained flat whereas Florida rates increased slightly.  The increase among older Black males in Florida was not consistent with national data where rates remained flat.

At final, males in Florida had substantially higher rates of physical fighting than females. Among racial/ethnic groups, Blacks had the highest rate, followed by Hispanics and then Whites.

Comparison with national data. In 2009, the overall rate of physical fighting among adolescents in Florida roughly matched the national rate. Gender and race/ethnicity patterns at the national level mirrored those at the state level.

Adolescent males in Florida were more than three times as likely to report weapon carrying as female adolescents. Whites were most likely to report this behavior, followed by Hispanics, Blacks, and then Asians.

Comparison with national data. The overall rate of weapon carrying in Florida was equal to the national rate.  The gender and racial/ethnic patterns nationally were similar to patterns in Florida.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health

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

Overall, males in Florida reported slightly higher rates of binge drinking than females at final; this difference was especially large among Blacks. Overall, Whites had the highest rate followed by Hispanics and then by Blacks. There were considerable racial/ethnic differences among females: Whites were three times more likely to report binge drinking than Blacks, and rates for Hispanics were almost three times the rate for Blacks.

Comparison with national data. The pattern of racial/ethnic and gender binge drinking rates in Florida was similar to the national patterns among those groups.

Rates of marijuana use were higher among males than females in Florida at final. Whites and Hispanics were equal with the highest rates, followed by Blacks and then Asians.

Comparison with national data. As in Florida, males reported higher rates of marijuana use nationally than females. Nationally, Whites had the highest rates of use, followed by Blacks and then Hispanics. As in Florida, Asians had the lowest rates.

The suicide rate among older adolescents was essentially flat from baseline to final. Rates for other groups were based on fewer than 20 deaths, thus unsuitable for analyses.

Comparison with national data. Suicide rates among older adolescents in Florida were similar to national rates for that group.

The rate of suicide attempts requiring medical attention was equal among males and females in Florida. The rate was highest among Hispanics, then Blacks, followed by Whites and Asians with similar rates.

Comparison with national data. At final, Florida had a higher rate of suicide attempts requiring medical than nationally. Nationally, females reported higher rates of suicide attempts in contrast to the equal rates between males and females in Florida.  Nationally, Blacks had the highest rate, followed by Hispanics and then Whites, whereas in Florida, Hispanics had the highest rates.

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).

Males in Florida were more likely to report having engaged in sexual intercourse than females at final. Blacks had the highest rates, followed by Hispanics and then by Whites.  Asians had the lowest rates, with rates about 50% less than the other racial/ethnic groups.

Comparison with national data. Adolescents in Florida reported somewhat higher rates of being sexually experienced than adolescents nationally.  Males and females had roughly matching rates of having engaged in sexual intercourse nationally, whereas males had higher rates in Florida.  The national racial/ethnic pattern matched that noted for Florida.

Among Florida adolescents who were sexually experienced, rates of current sexual activity were similar between males and females. Among racial/ethnic groups, Blacks had the highest rates, followed by Hispanics, then by Whites, and then by Asians with the lowest rates, at a rate of about half of the other groups.

Comparison with national data. The overall final rate of Florida sexually experienced adolescents who reported current sexual activity was a little higher than the national rate.  The pattern of rates among gender and racial/ethnic groups in Florida matched the pattern among those groups nationally.

At final, rates of condom use among Florida adolescents were moderately higher among males than females. Blacks had the highest rate of condom use, followed by Whites and then Hispanics.

Comparison with national data. The overall rate of condom use among adolescents in Florida at final was slightly higher than the national rate due to a higher rate among females in Florida. As in Florida, national rates for males were higher than rates for females, although this difference was smaller in Florida. Nationally, Blacks and Whites had similar rates of use, the highest among racial/ethnic groups; these rates were followed by Asians and Hispanics, also with fairly similar rates.

Chronic Disease Prevention

(tobacco use)

Tobacco use among Florida adolescents at final was higher among males than females.  Whites had the highest rate, followed by Hispanics, then by Blacks and Asians.  Whites reported rates of tobacco use almost two and a half times greater than Asians and Blacks.

Comparison with national data. The gender and racial/ethnic patterns of rates of tobacco use in Florida matched the patterns among those groups nationally.  However, while the racial/ethnic pattern was similar with Asians having the lowest rates of smoking, nationally the Asian rate was much lower than the Black rate, whereas in Florida, the rates were more similar.  At final, overall rates of tobacco use in Florida were lower than national rates.

Additional data may be available at: http://www.doh.state.fl.us/family/childhealth/childreport/hi/index.html