Priority Indicators for Adolescent Health Measurement - Recommendations From the Global Action for Measurement of Adolescent Health (GAMA) Advisory Group

Andrew D Marsh¹, Ann-Beth Moller², Elizabeth Saewyc³, Emmanuel Adebayo⁴, Elsie Akwara⁵, Peter Azzopardi⁶, Mariame Guèye Ba⁷, Valentina Baltag⁸, Krishna Bose⁹, Stephanie Burrows¹⁰, Liliana Carvajal¹¹, Saeed Dastgiri¹², Lucy Fagan¹³, Jane Ferguson¹⁴, Howard S Friedman¹⁵, Charity Giyava¹⁶, Ann Hagell¹⁷, Jo Inchley¹⁸, Debra Jackson¹⁹, Anna E Kågesten²⁰, Aveneni Mangombe²¹, Alison Morgan²², Holly Newby⁸, Linda Schultz²³, Marni Sommer²⁴, Ilene Speizer²⁵, Kun Tang²⁶, Regina Guthold⁸

Affiliations

¹ Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing Department, WHO, Geneva, Switzerland. Electronic address: amarsh@who.int.
² Department of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research, UNDP/UNFPA/UNICEF/WHO/World Bank Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction (HRP), World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
³ Stigma and Resilience Among Vulnerable Youth Centre, School of Nursing, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
⁴ Adolescent Health Unit, Institute of Child Health, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.
⁵ Independent Consultant, Nairobi, Kenya.
⁶ Global Adolescent Health group, Burnet Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Adolescent Health and wellbeing program, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
⁷ University Cheikh Anta Diop of Dakar, Faculty of Medicine, Pharmacy and Odontology/Gynecology, Dakar, Senegal; Obstetrics Clinic, University Teaching Hospital A. Le Dantec, Dakar, Senegal.
⁸ Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing Department, WHO, Geneva, Switzerland.
⁹ Bill and Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland.
¹⁰ Social Determinants of Health Department, WHO, Geneva, Switzerland.
¹¹ Division of Data, Analytics, Planning and Monitoring, Data and Analytics Section, UNICEF, New York, New York; Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
¹² Tabriz Health Services Management Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
¹³ UN Major Group for Children and Youth, London, United Kingdom; Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, United Kingdom.
¹⁴ Independent Consultant, Adolescent Health, Tannay, Switzerland.
¹⁵ Technical Division, United Nations Population Fund, New York, New York.
¹⁶ Women Deliver, Young Leaders Alumni, Harare, Zimbabwe.
¹⁷ Association for Young People's Health, London, United Kingdom.
¹⁸ MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom.
¹⁹ MARCH Centre, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom; School of Public Health, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa.
²⁰ Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing Department, WHO, Geneva, Switzerland; Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
²¹ Zimbabwe LSHTM Research Partnership, Ministry of Health and Child Care, Harare, Zimbabwe.
²² Global Financing Facility, The World Bank Group, Washington, District of Columbia; Nossal Institute for Global Health, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
²³ Global Financing Facility, The World Bank Group, Washington, District of Columbia.
²⁴ Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York.
²⁵ Department of Maternal and Child Health, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
²⁶ Vanke School of Public Health, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.

PMID: 35779998
PMCID: PMC9477504
DOI: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2022.04.015

Priority Indicators for Adolescent Health Measurement - Recommendations From the Global Action for Measurement of Adolescent Health (GAMA) Advisory Group

Andrew D Marsh et al. J Adolesc Health. 2022 Oct.

. 2022 Oct;71(4):455-465.

doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2022.04.015. Epub 2022 Jun 29.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing Department, WHO, Geneva, Switzerland. Electronic address: amarsh@who.int.
² Department of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research, UNDP/UNFPA/UNICEF/WHO/World Bank Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction (HRP), World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
³ Stigma and Resilience Among Vulnerable Youth Centre, School of Nursing, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
⁴ Adolescent Health Unit, Institute of Child Health, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.
⁵ Independent Consultant, Nairobi, Kenya.
⁶ Global Adolescent Health group, Burnet Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Adolescent Health and wellbeing program, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
⁷ University Cheikh Anta Diop of Dakar, Faculty of Medicine, Pharmacy and Odontology/Gynecology, Dakar, Senegal; Obstetrics Clinic, University Teaching Hospital A. Le Dantec, Dakar, Senegal.
⁸ Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing Department, WHO, Geneva, Switzerland.
⁹ Bill and Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland.
¹⁰ Social Determinants of Health Department, WHO, Geneva, Switzerland.
¹¹ Division of Data, Analytics, Planning and Monitoring, Data and Analytics Section, UNICEF, New York, New York; Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
¹² Tabriz Health Services Management Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
¹³ UN Major Group for Children and Youth, London, United Kingdom; Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, United Kingdom.
¹⁴ Independent Consultant, Adolescent Health, Tannay, Switzerland.
¹⁵ Technical Division, United Nations Population Fund, New York, New York.
¹⁶ Women Deliver, Young Leaders Alumni, Harare, Zimbabwe.
¹⁷ Association for Young People's Health, London, United Kingdom.
¹⁸ MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom.
¹⁹ MARCH Centre, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom; School of Public Health, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa.
²⁰ Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing Department, WHO, Geneva, Switzerland; Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
²¹ Zimbabwe LSHTM Research Partnership, Ministry of Health and Child Care, Harare, Zimbabwe.
²² Global Financing Facility, The World Bank Group, Washington, District of Columbia; Nossal Institute for Global Health, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
²³ Global Financing Facility, The World Bank Group, Washington, District of Columbia.
²⁴ Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York.
²⁵ Department of Maternal and Child Health, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
²⁶ Vanke School of Public Health, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.

PMID: 35779998
PMCID: PMC9477504
DOI: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2022.04.015

Abstract

Purpose: This article describes the selection of priority indicators for adolescent (10-19 years) health measurement proposed by the Global Action for Measurement of Adolescent health advisory group and partners, building on previous work identifying 33 core measurement areas and mapping 413 indicators across these areas.

Methods: The indicator selection process considered inputs from a broad range of stakeholders through a structured four-step approach: (1) definition of selection criteria and indicator scoring; (2) development of a draft list of indicators with metadata; (3) collection of public feedback through a survey; and (4) review of the feedback and finalization of the indicator list. As a part of the process, measurement gaps were also identified.

Results: Fifty-two priority indicators were identified, including 36 core indicators considered to be most important for measuring the health of all adolescents, one alternative indicator for settings where measuring the core indicator is not feasible, and 15 additional indicators for settings where further detail on a topic would add value. Of these indicators, 17 (33%) measure health behaviors and risks, 16 (31%) health outcomes and conditions, eight (15%) health determinants, five (10%) systems performance and interventions, four (8%) policies, programmes, laws, and two (4%) subjective well-being.

Discussion: A consensus list of priority indicators with metadata covering the most important health issues for adolescents was developed with structured inputs from a broad range of stakeholders. This list will now be pilot tested to assess the feasibility of indicator data collection to inform global, regional, national, and sub-national monitoring.

Keywords: Adolescent; Adolescent health; Adolescent health services; Global health; Health behavior; Health risk behavior; Health status indicators; Social determinants of health; Youth health.

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Figures

**Figure 1**
Flow diagram of indicator selection process. ∗ See Guthold et al. (2020) [12]. ^† See Newby et al. (2020) [8].

**Figure 2**
Priority indicators recommended by the GAMA AG by preferred data source and domain. Note: HMIS = health management information systems; CRVS = civil registration and vital statistics.

See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

1. World Health Organization . World Health Organization; Geneva: 2001. The Second decade : Improving adolescent health and development.
1. Sawyer S.M., Afifi R.A., Bearinger L.H., et al. Adolescence: A foundation for future health. Lancet. 2012;379:1630–1640. - PubMed
1. Every Woman Every Child . United Nations; New York: 2015. The global strategy for women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health (2016-2030)
1. Sheehan P., Sweeny K., Rasmussen B., et al. Building the foundations for sustainable development: A case for global investment in the capabilities of adolescents. Lancet. 2017;390:1792–1806. - PubMed
1. Klein J.D. Adolescent health measurement - a necessary step toward achieving global goals. J Adolesc Health. 2021;68:836–839. - PubMed

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Priority Indicators for Adolescent Health Measurement - Recommendations From the Global Action for Measurement of Adolescent Health (GAMA) Advisory Group

Affiliations

Priority Indicators for Adolescent Health Measurement - Recommendations From the Global Action for Measurement of Adolescent Health (GAMA) Advisory Group

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

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References

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Medical

Research Materials