U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Reduce the proportion of adolescents who used drugs in the past month — SU‑05 Data Methodology and Measurement

On this page:  About the National Data  |  Methodology  |  History

About the National Data

Data

Data Source:  National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), SAMHSA

Baseline: 8.0 percent of adolescents aged 12 to 17 years reported use of illicit drugs in the past 30 days in 2018

Target: 5.5 percent

Numerator
Number of adolescents aged 12 to 17 years who reported using any illicit drugs during the past 30 days.
Denominator
Number of adolescents aged 12 to 17 years.
Target-setting method
Projection
Target-setting method details
Linear trend fitted using weighted least squares and a projection at the 50 percent prediction interval.
1
Target-setting method justification
Trend data were evaluated for this objective. Using historical data points, a trend line was fitted using weighted least squares, and the trend was projected into the next decade. This method was used because three or more comparable data points were available, the projected value was within the range of possible values, and a projection at the 50 percent prediction interval was selected because no additional information could be used to assess the trend line, so the target was based on the projection.

Methodology

Methodology notes

Illicit drug use by adolescents aged 12 to 17 years is defined as using at least one of the following substances in the past month: marijuana or hashish, cocaine (including "crack"), inhalants, hallucinogens (including PCP and LSD), heroin, or any nonmedical use of analgesics, tranquilizers, stimulants, or sedatives. The answers for each of the substances are examined for each respondent. Persons are considered to have used illicit drugs if they report use in the past 30 days of any one of the substances.

History

Comparable HP2020 objective
Modified, which includes core objectives that are continuing from Healthy People 2020 but underwent a change in measurement.
Changes between HP2020 and HP2030
This objective differs from Healthy People 2020 objective SA-13.1 in that objective SA-13.1 tracked adolescent-reported use of alcohol or illicit drugs during the past 30 days, while this objective tracks adolescent-reported use of illicit drugs during the past 30 days.

1. Because Healthy People 2030 objectives have a desired direction (e.g., increase or decrease), the confidence level of a one-sided prediction interval can be used as an indication of how likely a target will be to achieve based on the historical data and fitted trend.