American College Health Association National College Health Assessment (ACHA-NCHA) Spring 2005 Reference Group Data Report (Abridged)

TLDR

Assessing college students’ health needs and capacities is essential for building healthy campus communities, and the ACHA‑NCHA survey, developed in 1998, provides a tool for institutions to achieve this goal. The ACHA‑NCHA survey includes about 300 questions on health status, behaviors, access, impediments, and norms across multiple domains, and its data are aggregated twice yearly into reference group reports for comparison. The Spring 2005 Reference Group report presents results from 54,111 students.

Abstract

Assessing and understanding the health needs and capacities of college students is paramount to creating healthy campus communities. The American College Health Association-National College Health Assessment (ACHA-NCHA) is a survey instrument developed by the ACHA in 1998 to assist institutions of higher education in achieving this goal. The ACHA-NCHA contains approximately 300 questions assessing student health status and health problems, risk and protective behaviors, access to health information, impediments to academic performance, and perceived norms across a variety of content areas (eg, injury prevention; personal safety and violence; alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use; sexual health; weight, nutrition, and exercise; mental health). Twice a year, the ACHA compiles aggregate data from participating institutions in a reference group report for data comparison. Results from the Spring 2005 Reference Group (N = 54,111) are presented in this article.