Chronic diseases and health conditions in adolescents: Sex inequalities

Lemos, Vivian Castro; Barros, Marilisa Berti de Azevedo; Lima, Margareth Guimarães

doi:10.1590/1980-549720230009

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Revista Brasileira de Epidemiologia

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ORIGINAL ARTICLE • Rev. bras. epidemiol. 26 • 2023 • https://doi.org/10.1590/1980-549720230009 copy

Chronic diseases and health conditions in adolescents: Sex inequalities

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

ABSTRACT

Objective:

To estimate the prevalence of chronic diseases and health conditions in adolescents from Campinas (São Paulo), investigating sex differences according to age group.

Methods:

This population-based study analyzed data from the ISACamp 2014/15 health survey, with a total of 1,022 adolescents interviewed. The interviewees consisted of 517 boys and 505 girls; 492 of them in the ten to 14 age group and 530 in the 15 to 19 age group. We verified the associations using the χ² test with Rao Scott adjustment and estimated prevalence ratios (PR) with multiple Poisson regression adjusted for age. Analyses were also stratified by age group.

Results:

Respiratory diseases, such as rhinitis (25.3%), sinusitis (15.7%), and asthma (10.9%), were the most prevalent among adolescents. Health complaints were high, especially headaches (39.5%), emotional conditions (34.5%), allergies (27.5%), and back pain (21.3%). More than 22.0% of adolescents reported having three or more health conditions. Girls declared a higher number of health conditions (three or more) than boys (PR=2.27).

Conclusion:

The study showed that adolescents presented a significant number of health conditions, particularly regarding complaints, indicating the need for clinical care and public policies aimed at controlling and preventing these diseases in this age group.

Keywords:
Adolescent; Chronic disease; Health status; Demography

Variables	N*	Prevalence (%) (95%CI) ^†	Prevalence (%) by age group (95%CI) ^†
Variables	N*	Prevalence (%) (95%CI) ^†	10 to 14	15 to 19
Chronic diseases
Rhinitis	42,719	25.3 (21.7–29.2)	24.6 (20.1–29.9)	25.9 (21.8–30.5)
Sinusitis	26,608	15.7 (12.91–19.1)	13.9 (10.7–18.0)	17.4 (14.0–21.5)
Asthma	18,460	10.9 (9.1–13.1)	10.7 (8.2–13.8)	11.2 (8.7–14.2)
High cholesterol	6,931	4.1 (2.9–5.8)	5.9 (4.1–8.5)^‡	2.4 (1.3–4.3)^‡
Spinal disease/condition	6,018	3.6 (2.5–5.1)	2.1 (1.1–4.1)^‡	4.9 (3.2–7.6)^‡
Bronchitis/COPD	4,665	2.8 (1.8–4.1)	2.1 (1.2–3.7)	3.3 (1.9–5.9)
Hypertension	2,451	1.5 (0.8–2.6)	1.3 (0.5–3.0)	1.6 (0.7–3.5)
Number of chronic diseases
0	91,490	54.1 (49.4–58.8)	55.4 (49.7–61.0)	52.9 (46.9–58.9)
1	46,320	27.4 (23.9–31.2)	28.4 (24.1–33.2)	26.4 (21.7–31.8)
2	21,452	12.7 (10.2–15.6)	11.6 (8.4–15.8)	13.7 (10.6–17.5)
3+	9,788	5.8 (4.0–8.3)	4.5 (3.1–6.7)	6.9 (4.4–10.8)
Health conditions
Migraine/headache	66,741	39.5 (34.9–44.3)	39.0 (33.5–44.7)	40.0 (34.8–45.4)
Emotional/mental condition	58,373	34.5 (28.0–41.6)	32.9 (25.5–41.3)	36.0 (29.5–43.2)
Allergies	46,455	27.5 (24.3–30.9)	26.9 (22.9–31.2)	28.1 (23.7–32.9)
Back pain	35,923	21.3 (18.0–25.0)	15.7 (12.6–19.4)^‡	26.4 (21.5–32.0)^‡
Dizziness/vertigo	21,740	12.9 (10.6–15.5)	10.0 (7.4–13.5)^‡	15.5 (12.3–19.4)^‡
Insomnia	19,711	11.7 (9.4–14.4)	9.4 (7.1–12.5)^‡	13.7 (10.9–17.2)^‡
UT infection/cystitis	7,150	4.2 (3.0–5.9)	3.1 (1.8–5.3)	5.3 (3.6–7.7)
Number of health conditions
0	46,218	27.3 (22.4–32.9)	29.2 (23.6–35.7)	25.6 (20.1–31.9)
1	48,822	28.9 (26.4–31.5)	31.0 (27.5–34.7)	26.9 (23.5–30.6)
2	36,363	21.5 (18.6–24.7)	21.0 (17.2–25.5)	21.9 (18.4–25.9)
3+	38,155	22.6 (18.6–26.5)	18.7 (14.4–23.9)^‡	25.6 (21.6–30.1)^‡

Variables	Male (1) (%)	Female (2) (%)	*PR (2/1)** ^†
Chronic diseases
Rhinitis	24.1	26.5	1.10 (0.89–1.36)
Sinusitis	14.8	16.7	1.12 (0.85–1.50)
Asthma	13.1	8.6	0.65 (0.47–0.90) ^‡
High cholesterol	2.8	5.5	2.01 (1.11–3.64) ^‡
Spinal disease/condition	2.5	4.7	1.87 (0.95–3.70)
Bronchitis/COPD	3.1	2.4	0.77 (0.38–1.55)
Hypertension	1.6	1.3	0.85 (0.25–2.82)
Number of chronic diseases
0	54.6	53.6	1
1	28.6	26.2	0.90 (0.74–1.09)
2	11.7	13.7	1.14 (0.84–1.56)
3+	5.1	6.5	1.25 (0.84–1.88)
Health conditions
Migraine/headache	30.0 ^‡	49.3	1.64 (1.35–2.00) ^‡
Emotional/mental condition	29.2	40.1	1.37 (1.15–1.63) ^‡
Allergies	26.7	28.3	1.06 (0.86–1.30)
Back pain	15.4	27.3	1.76 (1.30–2.38) ^‡
Dizziness/vertigo	9.5	16.3	1.70 (1.25–2.30) ^‡
Insomnia	10.0	13.4	1.33 (0.90–1.96)
UT infection/cystitis	0.8	7.8	9.77 (3.45–27.65) ^‡
Number of health conditions
0	32.3	22.3	1
1	32.7	24.9	0.76 (0.62–0.93) ^‡
2	21.3	21.7	1.02 (0.77–1.35)
3+	13.7	31.2	2.27 (1.65–3.12) ^‡

Variables	PR (95%CI)
Variables	10 to 14 years*	15 to 19 years*
Asthma	0.57 (0.34–0.97) ^†	0.73 (0.44–1.19)
Cholesterol	1.44 (0.68–3.07)	5.82 (1.11–30.31) ^†
Migraine/headache	1.38 (1.06–1.78) ^†	1.95 (1.50–2.54) ^†
Emotional/mental condition	1.41 (1.03–1.91) ^†	1.34 (1.10–1.62) ^†
Back pain	1.62 (1.01–2.59) ^†	1.83 (1.31–2.55) ^†
Dizziness/vertigo	1.28 (0.76–2.15)	2.02 (1.36–3.01) ^†

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[1] CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: Vivian Castro Lemos. Rua Doutor Bias Fortes, 118, Centro, CEP: 37.150-000, Carmo do Rio Claro (MG), Brazil. E-mail: vivicalemos@yahoo.com.br