Inhalant Data - Fairfax County, Virginia

From Falls Church News Press in Virginia:

The results of the 2008 Fairfax County Youth Survey were recently announced. The survey compiles information from “more than 22,000 public school students in the 6th, 8th, 10th, and 12th grades.”

A few notables regarding inhalant use:

• Overall, lifetime inhalant use for 8th, 10th and 12th grades has DECREASED from 2001-2008 (-.2%) but INCREASED from 2005-2008 (.2%) – table 7
• Overall 30-day inhalant use for 8th, 10th and 12th grades has DECREASED for both 2001-2208 (-.2%) and 2005-2008 (-.5%) – table 8
• Lifetime inhalant use from 2005-2008 DECREASED for 12th grade (6.6%-6.3%) but INCREASED for both 8th grade (13.6%-14.2%) and 10th grade (8.8%-9.7%) –table 9
• Pat 30-day inhalant use from 2005-2008 decreased for 8th and 12th grade but stayed the same for 12th grade (2.2%) – table 10
• For both 2005 and 2008 (table 11), Fairfax County lifetime inhalant use is lower than the national average for 8th, 10th, and 12th grade use.
• However, for past 30-day inhalant use in that same timeframe, county use is higher than national averages for 8th grade (5.5% county, 4.2% national). 10th grade use matches national use at 2.2%.
• Past 30 day use of inhalants for Fairfax County 8th grades in 2008 (4.4%) was higher than 2007 national 8th grade (3.9%).
• Overall, female students are using inhalants at a higher rate than males. Lifetime=9.6% female use, 9.4% male use. Past 30-day=3.0% female use, 2.5% male use) –table 32
  Lifetime inhalant use is overall 9.6%. Highest is 8th grade (14.2%) and lowest is 12th grade (6.3%) –table 32
• Past 30-day use is overall 2.8%. Highest is 8th grade (4.4%) and lowest is 12th grade (1.2%) –table 32
• For lifetime inhalant use for 2001,2003,2005, and 2008: 10th grade inhalant use is higher in 2008 (9.7%) than in any other year. 12th grade use in 2008 (6.3%) is at its lowest level for all years. –table 33
• For those same years, Hispanic/Latino report highest use rates (14.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander report lowest use rates (8.2%) –table 33
• For those same years, African American use rates are highest in 2008 (12%) and Whites report lowest use rates in 2008 (8.5%) –table 33
• For 2001-2008, 30-day inhalant use is lowest in 2008 for: overall (2.6%), 8th grade (4.4%), 12th grade (1.2%) male use (2.2%) White (1.7%), Asian/Pacific Islander (2%) and other/multiple (3.5%) – table 34
• Table 35 & 36 illustrate that the majority of students who have used inhalants (both lifetime and 30-day use) have only tried inhalants 1-2 times.

Page 61-62 of the report provides a synopsis.