Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare (May 2021)
Associated Factors of Suboptimal Health Status Among Adolescents in China: A Cross-Sectional Study
Abstract
Gehendra Mahara,1,* Jiazhi Liang,2,* Zhirong Zhang,3 Qi Ge,1 Jinxin Zhang1 1Department of Medical Statistics, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, People’s Republic of China; 2Center for Disease Control and Prevention at Haizhu, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510288, People’s Republic of China; 3Nanhai District People’s Hospital of Foshan City, Foshan, Guangdong, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Jinxin ZhangDepartment of Medical Statistics, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86-20-87332453Email [email protected]: Suboptimal health status (SHS) is a state between health and disease, has several adverse effects, although, its main underlying mechanism is still unclear. This study aimed to investigate SHS and its associated factors of adolescents.Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in the three different geographic locations of China (Shanxi, Guangzhou, and Tibet). A multidimensional sub-health questionnaire of adolescent (MSQA) is used to evaluate SHS. Independent two-sample K–S test was performed for the quantitative data as the non-parametric test, whereas Chi-square test method was applied to explore the difference of discrete variables data between groups. Then finally, multiple logistic regression analysis was applied to analyze the influential factors of SHS.Results: Among 1461 respondents (between 15 and 18 years old), females proportion (56.47%) was higher than males (43.53%) where SHS was higher in Shanxi followed by Tibet and then Guangdong. The rural area, grade, lack of sleep time, home visit in a week, lack of exercise, a heavy burden of study, smoking, drinking, and fewer friends were the risk factors of SHS, while families living status, seeking help and extroversion were the protective factors.Conclusion: SHS is significantly associated with behavior and lifestyle-related factors. For comprehensively prevention and control of the SHS, it is urgently needed to reduce the risk factors and enhance the protective factors among adolescents.Keywords: suboptimal health status, associated factors, high school students, Shanxi, Guangzhou, Tibet, China