Girls growing through adolescence have a higher risk of poor health

Franco Cavallo; Alessio Zambon; Alberto Borraccino; Ulrike Raven-Sieberer; Torbjørn Torsheim; Patrizia Lemma; Kristina Fürth; Kädi Lepp; Raili Välimäa; Céline Vignes; Christiane Thomas; Cornelia Haehne; Gyöngyi Kökönyei; Inese Jece; Katerina Naumova; Wilma Vollebergh; Saskia Van Dorsselaer; Jørn Hetland; Margarida Gaspar De Matos; Tania Gaspar; Eva Stergar; Vesna Pucelj; Inmaculada Queija; Pedro J. Pérez Moreno; Victoria Muñoz Tinoco; Eva Leal; Mia Danielson; Mary Overpeck; Tina Kiaer

doi:10.1007/s11136-006-0037-5

Girls growing through adolescence have a higher risk of poor health

Franco Cavallo, Alessio Zambon, Alberto Borraccino, Ulrike Raven-Sieberer, Torbjørn Torsheim, Patrizia Lemma, Kristina Fürth, Kädi Lepp, Raili Välimäa, Céline Vignes, Christiane Thomas, Cornelia Haehne, Gyöngyi Kökönyei, Inese Jece, Katerina Naumova, Wilma Vollebergh, Saskia Van Dorsselaer, Jørn Hetland, Margarida Gaspar De Matos, Tania GasparEva Stergar, Vesna Pucelj, Inmaculada Queija, Pedro J. Pérez Moreno, Victoria Muñoz Tinoco, Eva Leal, Mia Danielson, Mary Overpeck, Tina Kiaer

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

105 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Introduction: Self rated health, in adult population, is strongly associated with mortality and life expectancy. In younger people this association is less evident, but it may anticipate a similar risk in adult life. Our research, based on the HBSC (Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children) International collaboration, contributes to deepen the knowledge in this field by monitoring adolescents' health through a multi-national survey involving 29 European countries, plus North America (Canada and USA) and Israel. Methods: Following an established methodology, the HBSC survey has elaborated a questionnaire on health and health behaviour, filled in by a representative national sample of 11-, 13- and 15-year-old boys and girls. The sample is constituted of more than 160,000 subjects interviewed during the 2001/2002 survey. Reported symptoms and self-rated health have been analysed by sex and age and through the different countries. Results: Girls resulted to have a poorer perception of their health, with respect to males, at all ages and in all countries (Overall OR = 1.70, 95% CI: 1.66-1.76). Age increases this risk both for males and females, with an average increase of 32% (95% CI: 29-34%) per year in the age-range 11-15. The situation is similar for reported symptoms, with an overall OR of 1.81 (95% CI: 1.77-1.85) for females of reporting three or more symptoms at least once a week; also this risk increases of 26% (95% CI: 24-27%) per year during the pre-adolescence phase. In both cases it could be shown a significant interaction effect between age and gender: OR = 1.19 (CI: 1.15-1.23) for perceived health and OR = 1.26 (CI: 1.23-1.29) for reported symptoms in females with respect to males. Conclusions: Even if adolescence is described as the healthiest period of life, a consistent minority of young people perceive and report a poor health and a high number of symptoms. Females are constantly in a worse position than males and older age groups are worse than younger ones.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1577-1585
Number of pages	9
Journal	Quality of Life Research
Volume	15
Issue number	10
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-006-0037-5
Publication status	Published - Dec 2006

Keywords

Adolescence
Cross-national comparisons
Gender
Self-rated health
Symptoms load

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10.1007/s11136-006-0037-5

Cite this

Cavallo, F., Zambon, A., Borraccino, A., Raven-Sieberer, U., Torsheim, T., Lemma, P., Fürth, K., Lepp, K., Välimäa, R., Vignes, C., Thomas, C., Haehne, C., Kökönyei, G., Jece, I., Naumova, K., Vollebergh, W., Van Dorsselaer, S., Hetland, J., Gaspar De Matos, M., ... Kiaer, T. (2006). Girls growing through adolescence have a higher risk of poor health. Quality of Life Research, 15(10), 1577-1585. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-006-0037-5

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title = "Girls growing through adolescence have a higher risk of poor health",

abstract = "Introduction: Self rated health, in adult population, is strongly associated with mortality and life expectancy. In younger people this association is less evident, but it may anticipate a similar risk in adult life. Our research, based on the HBSC (Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children) International collaboration, contributes to deepen the knowledge in this field by monitoring adolescents' health through a multi-national survey involving 29 European countries, plus North America (Canada and USA) and Israel. Methods: Following an established methodology, the HBSC survey has elaborated a questionnaire on health and health behaviour, filled in by a representative national sample of 11-, 13- and 15-year-old boys and girls. The sample is constituted of more than 160,000 subjects interviewed during the 2001/2002 survey. Reported symptoms and self-rated health have been analysed by sex and age and through the different countries. Results: Girls resulted to have a poorer perception of their health, with respect to males, at all ages and in all countries (Overall OR = 1.70, 95% CI: 1.66-1.76). Age increases this risk both for males and females, with an average increase of 32% (95% CI: 29-34%) per year in the age-range 11-15. The situation is similar for reported symptoms, with an overall OR of 1.81 (95% CI: 1.77-1.85) for females of reporting three or more symptoms at least once a week; also this risk increases of 26% (95% CI: 24-27%) per year during the pre-adolescence phase. In both cases it could be shown a significant interaction effect between age and gender: OR = 1.19 (CI: 1.15-1.23) for perceived health and OR = 1.26 (CI: 1.23-1.29) for reported symptoms in females with respect to males. Conclusions: Even if adolescence is described as the healthiest period of life, a consistent minority of young people perceive and report a poor health and a high number of symptoms. Females are constantly in a worse position than males and older age groups are worse than younger ones.",

keywords = "Adolescence, Cross-national comparisons, Gender, Self-rated health, Symptoms load",

author = "Franco Cavallo and Alessio Zambon and Alberto Borraccino and Ulrike Raven-Sieberer and Torbj{\o}rn Torsheim and Patrizia Lemma and Kristina F{\"u}rth and K{\"a}di Lepp and Raili V{\"a}lim{\"a}a and C{\'e}line Vignes and Christiane Thomas and Cornelia Haehne and Gy{\"o}ngyi K{\"o}k{\"o}nyei and Inese Jece and Katerina Naumova and Wilma Vollebergh and {Van Dorsselaer}, Saskia and J{\o}rn Hetland and {Gaspar De Matos}, Margarida and Tania Gaspar and Eva Stergar and Vesna Pucelj and Inmaculada Queija and {P{\'e}rez Moreno}, {Pedro J.} and {Mu{\~n}oz Tinoco}, Victoria and Eva Leal and Mia Danielson and Mary Overpeck and Tina Kiaer",

year = "2006",

month = dec,

doi = "10.1007/s11136-006-0037-5",

language = "English",

volume = "15",

pages = "1577--1585",

journal = "Quality of Life Research",

issn = "0962-9343",

publisher = "Springer Netherlands",

number = "10",

}

Cavallo, F, Zambon, A, Borraccino, A, Raven-Sieberer, U, Torsheim, T, Lemma, P, Fürth, K, Lepp, K, Välimäa, R, Vignes, C, Thomas, C, Haehne, C, Kökönyei, G, Jece, I, Naumova, K, Vollebergh, W, Van Dorsselaer, S, Hetland, J, Gaspar De Matos, M, Gaspar, T, Stergar, E, Pucelj, V, Queija, I, Pérez Moreno, PJ, Muñoz Tinoco, V, Leal, E, Danielson, M, Overpeck, M & Kiaer, T 2006, 'Girls growing through adolescence have a higher risk of poor health', Quality of Life Research, vol. 15, no. 10, pp. 1577-1585. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-006-0037-5

TY - JOUR

T1 - Girls growing through adolescence have a higher risk of poor health

AU - Cavallo, Franco

AU - Zambon, Alessio

AU - Borraccino, Alberto

AU - Raven-Sieberer, Ulrike

AU - Torsheim, Torbjørn

AU - Lemma, Patrizia

AU - Fürth, Kristina

AU - Lepp, Kädi

AU - Välimäa, Raili

AU - Vignes, Céline

AU - Thomas, Christiane

AU - Haehne, Cornelia

AU - Kökönyei, Gyöngyi

AU - Jece, Inese

AU - Naumova, Katerina

AU - Vollebergh, Wilma

AU - Van Dorsselaer, Saskia

AU - Hetland, Jørn

AU - Gaspar De Matos, Margarida

AU - Gaspar, Tania

AU - Stergar, Eva

AU - Pucelj, Vesna

AU - Queija, Inmaculada

AU - Pérez Moreno, Pedro J.

AU - Muñoz Tinoco, Victoria

AU - Leal, Eva

AU - Danielson, Mia

AU - Overpeck, Mary

AU - Kiaer, Tina

PY - 2006/12

Y1 - 2006/12

N2 - Introduction: Self rated health, in adult population, is strongly associated with mortality and life expectancy. In younger people this association is less evident, but it may anticipate a similar risk in adult life. Our research, based on the HBSC (Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children) International collaboration, contributes to deepen the knowledge in this field by monitoring adolescents' health through a multi-national survey involving 29 European countries, plus North America (Canada and USA) and Israel. Methods: Following an established methodology, the HBSC survey has elaborated a questionnaire on health and health behaviour, filled in by a representative national sample of 11-, 13- and 15-year-old boys and girls. The sample is constituted of more than 160,000 subjects interviewed during the 2001/2002 survey. Reported symptoms and self-rated health have been analysed by sex and age and through the different countries. Results: Girls resulted to have a poorer perception of their health, with respect to males, at all ages and in all countries (Overall OR = 1.70, 95% CI: 1.66-1.76). Age increases this risk both for males and females, with an average increase of 32% (95% CI: 29-34%) per year in the age-range 11-15. The situation is similar for reported symptoms, with an overall OR of 1.81 (95% CI: 1.77-1.85) for females of reporting three or more symptoms at least once a week; also this risk increases of 26% (95% CI: 24-27%) per year during the pre-adolescence phase. In both cases it could be shown a significant interaction effect between age and gender: OR = 1.19 (CI: 1.15-1.23) for perceived health and OR = 1.26 (CI: 1.23-1.29) for reported symptoms in females with respect to males. Conclusions: Even if adolescence is described as the healthiest period of life, a consistent minority of young people perceive and report a poor health and a high number of symptoms. Females are constantly in a worse position than males and older age groups are worse than younger ones.

AB - Introduction: Self rated health, in adult population, is strongly associated with mortality and life expectancy. In younger people this association is less evident, but it may anticipate a similar risk in adult life. Our research, based on the HBSC (Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children) International collaboration, contributes to deepen the knowledge in this field by monitoring adolescents' health through a multi-national survey involving 29 European countries, plus North America (Canada and USA) and Israel. Methods: Following an established methodology, the HBSC survey has elaborated a questionnaire on health and health behaviour, filled in by a representative national sample of 11-, 13- and 15-year-old boys and girls. The sample is constituted of more than 160,000 subjects interviewed during the 2001/2002 survey. Reported symptoms and self-rated health have been analysed by sex and age and through the different countries. Results: Girls resulted to have a poorer perception of their health, with respect to males, at all ages and in all countries (Overall OR = 1.70, 95% CI: 1.66-1.76). Age increases this risk both for males and females, with an average increase of 32% (95% CI: 29-34%) per year in the age-range 11-15. The situation is similar for reported symptoms, with an overall OR of 1.81 (95% CI: 1.77-1.85) for females of reporting three or more symptoms at least once a week; also this risk increases of 26% (95% CI: 24-27%) per year during the pre-adolescence phase. In both cases it could be shown a significant interaction effect between age and gender: OR = 1.19 (CI: 1.15-1.23) for perceived health and OR = 1.26 (CI: 1.23-1.29) for reported symptoms in females with respect to males. Conclusions: Even if adolescence is described as the healthiest period of life, a consistent minority of young people perceive and report a poor health and a high number of symptoms. Females are constantly in a worse position than males and older age groups are worse than younger ones.

KW - Adolescence

KW - Cross-national comparisons

KW - Gender

KW - Self-rated health

KW - Symptoms load

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U2 - 10.1007/s11136-006-0037-5

DO - 10.1007/s11136-006-0037-5

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AN - SCOPUS:33751398721

SN - 0962-9343

VL - 15

SP - 1577

EP - 1585

JO - Quality of Life Research

JF - Quality of Life Research

IS - 10

ER -

Girls growing through adolescence have a higher risk of poor health

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Keywords

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