Subjective health, symptom load and quality of life of children and adolescents in Europe

Ravens-Sieberer U., Torsheim T., Hetland J., Vollebergh W., Cavallo F., Jericek H., ...Daha Fazla

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, cilt.54, ss.151-159, 2009 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 54
  • Basım Tarihi: 2009
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1007/s00038-009-5406-8
  • Dergi Adı: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.151-159
  • İstanbul Üniversitesi Adresli: Hayır

Özet

Objectives: To examine cross-cultural differences in the prevalence of school children's subjective health types and the pattern of socio-demographic and socio-economic differences.

OBJECTIVES:

To examine cross-cultural differences in the prevalence of school children's subjective health types and the pattern of socio-demographic and socio-economic differences.

METHODS:

Within the cross-sectional Health Behaviour in School-aged Children 2005/2006 Survey 200,000 school children aged 11, 13 and 15 answered a general health item, the Cantrill life satisfaction ladder and a subjective health complaints checklist. ANOVA and multilevel logistic regression models were conducted.

RESULTS:

Overall, 44% of the respondents reported multiple recurrent health complaints, only poor to fair general health, low life satisfaction or a combination of these. Older adolescents (OR: 1.1-1.6) and girls (OR: 1.2-1.4) reported more health problems, the gender difference increased with age (OR: 1.3-1.6). Low socio-economic status was also associated with health problems (OR: 1.4-2.3). Sizeable cross-national variation in the prevalence of health types and the impact of the above mentioned factors were observed, yet the main pattern of impact could be confirmed cross-culturally.

CONCLUSIONS:

Increasing social and gender role pressure with growing age, as well as restricted access to material resources and psychosocial strains are discussed as potential explanations for the observed health inequalities.