Vermont

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 discuss data for selected subgroups.

Overview of Findings

Findings for Vermont were generally positive. Rates for safety belt use, binge drinking, marijuana use, suicide attempts requiring medical attention, and tobacco use improved. Rates for riding with a driver who had been drinking and physical fighting remained flat. Mortality among young adults worsened.

Final rates Vermont compared favorably with national rates for young adult mortality and most behavioral objectives, including safety belt use, riding with a driver who had been drinking, physical fighting and suicide attempts requiring medical attention. Rates of tobacco use were similar to national rates. For all of these behavioral objectives, however, Vermont rates for Hispanics were higher than the national rates for that group and the Vermont rates of safety belt use and tobacco use were higher among Blacks than that the national rate for that group.

Highlights of Findings by Objective

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

Mortality

Rates of overall mortality increased among young adults in Vermont. Final rates for most other groups were based on fewer than 20 deaths and were thus unsuitable for analysis. Comparison with baseline data suggests a decrease among older adolescents.

Comparison with national data. Mortality increased nationally among young adults as it did in Vermont. In 2007, the young adult mortality rate in Vermont was lower than the national rate.

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. This text describes safety belt use.

Rates of motor vehicle crash mortality were based on fewer than 20 deaths and were thus unsuitable for analysis.

The overall rate of safety belt use in Vermont increased from baseline, due largely to an increase among males, especially White males. In 2009, females had higher rates than males, both overall and across racial/ethnic subgroups. Whites had the highest rates, followed by Asians, adolescents of multiple races and Native Americans, all of whom had similar rates. Hispanics and Blacks had similar rates, which where the lowest among racial/ethnic groups.

Comparison with national data. The national rate of safety belt use also increased from baseline. In 2009, the overall rate of safety belt use in Vermont was slightly higher than the national rate. Rates for Blacks and Hispanics in Vermont were notably higher than rates for those groups nationally. Overall, national racial/ethnic patterns differed from the patterns noted for Vermont. Asians had the highest rate nationally, followed by Hispanics, Whites, adolescents of multiple races, Blacks and Native Americans. Differences in rates among racial/ethnic groups were smaller nationally than in Vermont. The national gender pattern matched the pattern noted for Vermont.

Rates of adolescents in Vermont who reported riding with a driver who had been drinking alcohol did not change significantly from baseline. In 2009, the rate for females roughly matched the rate for males. Hispanics had the highest rate; Blacks, adolescents of multiple races, Native Americans, followed with somewhat lower rates; Whites and Asians had the lowest rates. The rate for Hispanics was more than twice the rate for Asians.

Comparison with national data. The national rate of adolescents riding with a driver who had been drinking declined from baseline, in contrast to no significant change in Vermont. In 2009, Vermont adolescents overall had lower rates of this behavior than adolescents nationally. Most subgroups in Vermont had lower or similar rates to corresponding groups nationally, with the exception of Hispanics who had a somewhat higher rate. The racial/ethnic patterns roughly matched the patterns noted for Vermont, with some exceptions. Nationally, males and females had similar rates, matching the pattern noted for Vermont.

Violence

(homicide, physical fighting)

Vermont homicide rates were based on fewer that 20 deaths; thus were unsuitable for analyses.

The Vermont rate of physical fighting did not change significantly from baseline. In 2009, the rate for males was much higher than the rate for females. Hispanics had the highest rates; Blacks, Native Americans and adolescents of multiple races followed with somewhat lower rates; Whites and Asians had the lowest rates. The rate for Hispanics was nearly three times the rate for Asians.

Comparison with national data. The national rate of physical fighting decreased overall from baseline compared to no significant change in Vermont. In 2009, the rate for Vermont was lower than the national rate overall. However, rates for Native Americans and Hispanics in Vermont were higher than the national rates for those groups. Males had higher rates than females, matching the pattern in Vermont. As in Vermont, Asians and Whites had the lowest rates nationally. In contrast to Vermont, Native Americans and Blacks had the highest rates nationally, followed by Hispanics and adolescents of multiple races.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health

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

Rates of binge drinking in Vermont decreased from baseline. In 2009, the rate for males remained slightly higher than the rate for females; this gender gap has narrowed considerably since baseline due to a large decrease among males. Hispanics had the highest rate by far, followed by Native Americans and Blacks, who had similar rates; adolescents of multiple races had the next highest rates followed by Whites; Asians had the lowest rates. Hispanics had more than three times the rate of Asians.

Comparison with national data. The national rate of adolescent binge drinking was flat from baseline in contrast with a decrease in Vermont. The final national rate of binge drinking for males was slightly higher than the rate for females, similar to the pattern in Vermont. Nationally, Native Americans had the highest rates, followed by Whites, Hispanics, and adolescents of multiple races. Asians and Blacks had the lowest rates. This differs from the pattern noted in Vermont, where Hispanics and Blacks had higher rates relative to most other groups.

Rates of marijuana use in Vermont decreased from baseline. In 2009, the rate for males remained slightly higher than the rate for females; this gender gap narrowed considerably since baseline due to a large decrease among males. Native Americans and Hispanics had the highest rates of marijuana use, with virtually matching rates. Blacks, adolescents of multiple races, and Whites had the next highest rates; Asians had the lowest rates. Native Americans and Hispanics had more than three times the rate of Asians.

Comparison with national data. National rates of marijuana use declined from baseline to a lesser extent than Vermont rates. Nationally, males had slightly higher rates than females, matching the pattern noted for Vermont. Nationally, Native Americans had the highest rates, followed by Whites, adolescent of multiple races, Black and Hispanics; Asians had the lowest rates. This differs from the pattern noted in Vermont, where Hispanics and Blacks had higher rates relative to most other groups.

Vermont suicide rates were based on fewer than 20 deaths; thus were unsuitable for analyses.

Rates of adolescent suicide attempts in Vermont requiring medical attention decreased from baseline. In 2009, the rate for females was slightly higher than the rate for males. Hispanic adolescents had by far the highest rate, more than three times the rate for Asians and Native Americans, who had the next highest rates, followed by Blacks, and adolescents of multiple races. Whites had the lowest rates.

Comparison with national data. The national rate of adolescent suicide attempts requiring medical attention also decreased from baseline. In 2009, the national rate was slightly higher than the overall rate for Vermont, with some differences by racial/ethnic group. Notably, Hispanics in Vermont had more than five times the rate for Hispanics nationally. National rates in 2009 were highest for adolescents of multiple races, followed by Blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans, Whites and Asians. This contrasts with Vermont, where Hispanics had the highest rates, and Asians and Native Americans had higher rates relative to most other groups. The national gender pattern roughly matched the pattern in Vermont.

Reproductive Health

Data not available.

Chronic Disease Prevention

(tobacco use)

Rates of tobacco use among adolescents in Vermont decreased significantly from baseline, overall and for males and females. In 2009, the rate for males was higher than the rate for females. Hispanics had the highest rate, followed by Native Americans, Blacks, adolescents of multiple races, Whites and Asians.  The rate for Hispanics was more than two times the rate for Asians.

Comparison with national data. The national rate of tobacco use among adolescents also decreased considerably from baseline. In 2009, the rate in Vermont was very similar to the national rate and the national gender pattern matched the pattern in Vermont.  However, the racial/ethnic pattern in 2009 differed between Vermont and the nation. Nationally, Native Americans had the highest rate, followed by Whites, adolescents of multiple races, Hispanics, Blacks and Asians. This stands in contrast to Vermont where rates for Hispanics and Blacks were relatively high and rates for Whites were relatively low. The 2009 rates for Hispanics and Blacks in Vermont were more than twice the national rates for those groups.

Additional data may be available at: http://healthvermont.gov/research/index.aspx