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Self‐Reported Health Status and Use of Medical Care by 3500 Adolescents in Western Sweden. I
Author(s) -
KELLY KRISTINA BERG,
EHRVÉR MARIANNE,
ERNEHOLM TORBJÖRN,
GUNDEVALL CHRISTER,
WENNERBERG INGELA,
WETTERGREN LENA
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
acta pædiatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1111/j.1651-2227.1991.tb11958.x
Subject(s) - medicine , family medicine , medline , pediatrics , environmental health , gerontology , political science , law
. Some 3500 adolescents answered a questionnaire anonymously. The sample represented 85 % of the students between the ages 13 to 16 and 65 % of the students between 17 to 18 in the three communities studied. The students all had middle class backgrounds. Self‐reported illness differed considerably from data found in epidemiological surveys. The self‐reported medical panorama was dominated by concerns about acne, tiredness, headaches, stomach pains, sports injuries and allergic disorders. One quarter to one third of the students reported such problems. Overall, 85% of the students reported that they were “completely healthy”, at the same time as they also reported an average of 3.1 medical complaints. Self‐initiated appointments with physicians were reported with an average of 5.5 during the last year, which is high. About 40% of the students had one complaint for which they wanted to see a physician. About 15% reported that they had had suicidal thoughts.