Self-reported health profile of adolescents’ school students in an Egyptian village

Abstract

Introduction: Although adolescents comprise a considerable portion of Egypt’s population, they have received insufficient indicators of their health status, especially in rural areas. Aim: This study was conducted to assess the health profile of adolescent school students and its associated socio-demographic factors in an Egyptian village. Methods: A school-based cross-sectional study was conducted during the scholastic year 2016–2017 on 378 adolescent students recruited from preparatory and secondary schools in Tonnamel village, Egypt. A self-reported questionnaire was used to assess the socio-demographic characteristics and included the modified Child health and illness profile-Adolescent edition questionnaire. Results: Health profile taxonomy and ranking revealed the worst health status as the most frequent one among students (69.6%). Age, gender, and mother education were significant predictors of health status whereas having illiterate mothers [p = 0.004, odds ratio (OR) = 4.3, and confidence interval (CI) = 1.62–11.9], being females (p = 0.003, OR = 2.54, and CI = 1.38–4.66) and older age group of 15–18 years (p = 0.02, OR = 2.23, and CI = 1.13–4.38) were significant risk factors for the poor to worst health among adolescents. Conclusions: This study reflected the worst health status as the most frequent and highly prevalent health profile among the studied adolescent students. This is mostly related to age and sex of students and to the education of their mothers whereas being female, owning older age and illiterate mother were risk factors for worst health status of adolescents. Addressing the health characteristics of adolescents is valuable to tailor suitable and specific health improvement interventions.