(P17-059-23) Counting Adolescents In: The Development of an Adolescent Health Indicator Framework for Population-Based Settings

Objectives: Inadequate data exist on nutrition and related adolescent health domains to inform evidence-based policies and programs tailored to meet their specialized health and nutrition needs in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). We describe the process adopted by the Africa Research Implementation Science and Education (ARISE) Network to develop adolescent health and nutrition indicators and an assessment tool aimed at harmonizing adolescent health and nutrition measurement, using population surveillance systems such as Health and Demographic Surveillance Systems (HDSS)  and schools in LMICs. We also describe our strategy for implementing the questionnaire through in-person longitudinal surveys with adolescents in Africa and Asia.

Methods: Guided by the Lancet Series on Adolescent Health’s conceptual framework for defining health needs and actions in adolescents, we conducted a multistage collaborative and iterative process led by network members (i.e., representatives from ARISE Network institutions) alongside consultation with adolescent health and nutrition experts globally (n=11).

Results: Seven key domains emerged from the iterative process: socio-demographics; health awareness and behaviors; nutrition; mental health; sexual and reproductive health; substance use; and healthcare utilization. For each domain, we generated a clear definition; rationale for inclusion; sub-domain descriptions, and a set of questions for measurement. The nutrition-specific domain includes the Global Diet Quality Score questionnaire to assess diet quality based on the consumption of 16 healthy food groups, 7 unhealthy food groups, and 2 food groups (red meat and high-fat dairy) that are unhealthy if consumed in excess. This domain also includes hemoglobin and anthropometric (i.e., height and weight) measurements. The ARISE Network is testing the questionnaire longitudinally at 10 sites in seven countries in sub-Saharan Africa and two countries in Asia.

Conclusions: The integration of the questionnaire into established population-based data collection platforms, such as HDSS and schools, can provide standardized data for policy and program planning and evaluation in LMICs and improve adolescent health and nutrition.

Funding Sources: The Botnar Foundation (Grant #INV-037672) financially supports this work through a grant.