Durham Public Health presents 2023 Youth Risk Behavior Survey results and 2024 State of the County Health Report

Durham County Public Health presented the 2023 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) results and the 2024 State of the County Health Report to the Board of County Commissioners, detailing youth mental-health indicators, substance-use patterns and countywide health priorities.

Public Health Director Rod Jenkins introduced the presentation and epidemiologist Savannah Carrico delivered YRBS findings from the 2023 survey, which was conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and oversampled Durham County with more than 2,000 student respondents from all eligible Durham Public Schools.

Carrico said the survey found mental-health signals of concern: an item approximating depressive symptoms asked whether students in the past 12 months felt so sad or hopeless for two weeks in a row that they stopped doing usual activities; females were more likely to report such symptoms. "Students reporting depression are five times more likely to consider suicide and 2.7 times more likely to make a suicide plan," she said, and noted correlations with recent alcohol and marijuana use.

On substance use, Carrico said the county saw a decline from 2021 to 2023 in high-school alcohol and vaping measures; for example, vaping decreased for middle-school students and remained more common among high-school students. She cautioned that changes could reflect reporting differences and said the 2025 YRBS will be conducted under a new federal opt-in requirement, which Public Health staff said will reduce comparability with earlier, opt-out surveys. "The 2025 survey was conducted in the spring of this year. It's going to look a lot different from previous years because in previous years it was an opt out survey," Marissa Mortaboy, Population Health Director, told the board.

Mortaboy and Bria Miller of the Partnership for Healthy Durham presented the State of the County Health Report, which draws on the 2023 community health assessment. Highlights included: Durham's population at 329,405 (a 3.7% increase from 2020 to 2023); life expectancy at 79.2 years versus 76.2 for North Carolina; cancer remaining the leading cause of death; and infant mortality rates remaining steady for 2018'2022 compared with 2017'2021.

The report noted emerging issues: November 2024 bond measures for transportation and parks totaling $200,000,000; an increase in the point-in-time unsheltered count (158 people in 2024, up 123% since 2020); and increases in homeless children (up 58%) and families (up 31%). Public Health also said Durham County will receive $11,600,000 in opioid resettlement funds over 18 years; community input prioritized evidence-based addiction treatment, recovery support services and recovery-supportive housing.

Other indicators: the uninsured rate fell to 10.59% in 2022 from 14% in 2019 after Medicaid expansion; food security and access improved (food index up from 7.7/10 in 2019 to 8/10 in 2021); obesity decreased from 34% (2022) to 30% (2023) in county measures; and type 2 diabetes prevalence fell from 12.9% (2019) to 11% (2021). The report also showed 2,452 calls to the 988 behavioral-health line from Durham County residents between November 2023 and October 2024.

Commissioners asked staff for trend analysis and for ways to share results with Durham Public Schools and community partners. Commissioner Gladys Jacobs asked whether the county could conduct local surveys or otherwise collect comparable data if federal opt-in requirements reduce YRBS representativeness; staff said they would explore options and that a formal trend report (2017'2023) is in preparation. Public Health staff said they already share findings with Durham Public Schools and other partners and that infographics and public-facing summaries are available online.

Commissioners and staff also discussed homelessness and infant mortality; Jenkins and staff described ongoing multi-agency efforts such as Born in Durham and community coalitions addressing maternal and infant health. Public Health staff said they are participating in the county's homeless strategic planning work.

The presenters encouraged use of the full reports and supplemental materials at healthydurham.org and said staff will provide follow-up trend materials and work with community partners on dissemination.