Self-rated health among urban adolescents : the roles of age, gender, and their associated factors.
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2015
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Health status is often analyzed in population surveys. Self-rated health (SRH) is a singleitem
summary measure of the perception of one’s health. In Brazil, studies on the SRH of
adolescents remain scarce, especially those aiming to understand the domains that compose
this construct. Therefore, the aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of poor
SRH and its associated factors among 11- to 13-year-olds and 14- to 17-year-olds living in
a large urban center in Brazil. This cross-sectional study was conducted using a household
survey across Belo Horizonte that included 1,042 adolescents. Stratified logistic regression
models were used for each age group to assess the associations between worse SRH and
the following variables: socio-demographic, social and family support, lifestyles, psychological
health, and anthropometry. Approximately 11% (95% CIs = 8.7–13.6) of the studied adolescents
rated their health as poor, and SHR decreased with age among males and
females. This trend was more pronounced among girls (from 6.9% among 11- to 13-yearold
girls to 16.9% among 14- to 17-year-old girls) than boys (from 8.3% among 11- to 13-
year-old boys to 11% among 14- to 17-year-old boys). Worse SRH was associated with
family support (as assessed by the absence of parent-adolescent conversations; odds ratio
[OR] = 3.5 among 11- to 13-year-olds), family structure (OR = 2.8 among 14- to 17-yearolds),
and argument reporting (OR = 8.2 among 14- to 17-year-olds). Among older adolescents,
the consumption of fruit fewer than five times per week (OR = 2.4), life dissatisfaction
(OR = 2.8), underweight status (OR = 6.7), and overweight status (OR = 2.7) were associated
with poor SRH. As adolescents age, their universe expands from their relationship with
their parents to include more complex issues, such as their lifestyles and life satisfaction.
Therefore, these results suggest the importance of evaluating SRH across adolescent age
groups and demonstrate the influence of the family environment (in addition to other factors)
on negative health assessments, particularly among 14- to 17-year-olds.
Description
Keywords
Citation
MEIRELES, A. L. et al. Self-rated health among urban adolescents: the roles of age, gender, and their associated factors. Plos One, v. 10, p. e0132254, 2015. Disponível em: <http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0132254> Acesso em: 29 ago. 2017