Health Status of Adolescents - Comparison by the Type of Schools

Overview

Socio-economic differences in health status were investigated in a sample of 2616 adolescents (mean age 15years) attending 31 selected schools in Košice. The sample was stratified by sex and type of school, based on officialstatistics, and can be considered representative for the Slovak adolescent population of the appropriate age. Forassessment of the health status the authors used the following self-reporting techniques: questionnaire on subjectivewellbeing (GHQ-12), range of general health status evaluation, morbidity range, questionnaire on health issues,questionnaire on the use of health services and inventory of chronic health problems. The socio-economic statusof adolescents depended on type of attended school.The investigation confirmed that socio-economic differences in health status in the group of Slovak adolescentsare more frequent and more marked as compared with studies implemented abroad. The most marked classdifferences in health status were found as regards subjective health problems and in the range of morbidity. Thetype of school proved to be a more sensitive indicator of class differences in the health status of adolescents thanthe parents’ education.

Key words:
adolescence, health socio-economic inequities, type of school