COMPARATIVE STUDY OF HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE AMONG FINNISH 12- TO 15-YEAR-OLD ADOLESCENTS IN 1996 AND 2013

Abstract

Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) has improved in adults in Finland. Much less is known about HRQoL of adolescents. The aim of the present study was to compare HRQoL between school samples from 1996 and 2013. Furthermore, we investigated age and gender differences in HRQoL. The study samples comprised 239 adolescents in 1996 and 373 adolescents in 2013 from schools in the Helsinki Metropolitan area, and in Helsinki, respectively. The mean age of the adolescents was 13.6 years in 1996 and 13.7 years in 2013. According to Tobit regression there was no statistically significant difference (difference 0.001, p=0.767) in the mean 16D scores between samples from 1996 and 2013. Ageing had a statistically significant decreasing effect (-0.005, p=0.014) and male gender a statistically significant increasing effect (0.015, p<0.001) on the mean 16D score. In conclusion: HRQoL showed no change from 1996 to 2013 among Finnish 12- to 15-year-old adolescents. Adolescent boys had better HRQoL than girls and HRQoL scores deteriorated with increasing age.

Keywords

• adolescents
• age
• gender
• health-related quality of life
• time trend study