The Health Complaints of School Age Children in Turkey

Abstract

Aim:This study aims to identify the frequency of the most commonly seen health complaints and their relations with the socio-demographic characteristics of households in Turkey.Materials and Methods:The Turkey Health Survey research was conducted as a cross-sectional study by The Turkish Statistical Institute. Within the scope of the research, the health status history of a total of 3.921 children aged 7-14 was examined to identify the following factors: Gender and age of the children, some sociodemographic characteristics of their households, health complaints in the previous 6 months and treatment status at health-care facilities for these children aged 7-14 years.Results:The findings showed that of the 3.921 children who participated in this research, 50.8% were male, 34.4% had at least one health complaint, and 88.0% of the children with health complaints were treated. The most commonly seen health complaints in the children in the previous 6 months were oral and dental-related health complaints (25.8%), eye-related health complaints (14.6%) and infectious diseases (9.8%). According to the results of a logistic regression, the higher the number of people living in the household, the presence of a person who defines their health status as poor and the presence of an individual with chronic disease in the household affect the presence of health complaints in children negatively.Conclusion:It was found that the health status of children can be affected in families with chronic disease or poor health, and it is suggested that research on child health should be investigated extensively in such families.

Keywords

• child
• health survey
• health status
• oral-dental health