TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2003//
TI  - Influence of health risk behavior and socio-economic status on health of Slovak adolescents
JO  - Croatian medical journal
A1  - Madarasova Geckova, Andrea
A1  - van Dijk, Jitse P.
A1  - Honcariv, Robert
A1  - Groothoff, Johan W.
A1  - Post, Doeke
SP  - 41
EP  - 49
VL  - 44
IS  - 1
N2  - AIM: To investigate the role of health risk behavior, such as smoking and alcohol consumption, in the explanation of socio-economic health differences among adolescents. The hypothesis of different exposure and the hypothesis of different vulnerability were explored. METHOD: In the study carried out in 1998, the prevalence of health complaints of smokers vs non-smokers, alcohol consumers vs abstainers, and among different socio-economic groups of 2,616 Slovak adolescents (mean age, 14.9-/+0.62 years) were investigated by means of self-reported questionnaires. The adolescents were stratified according to sex and type of secondary school. RESULTS: Socio-economic disadvantage and the presence of health risk behavior were associated with greater frequency of health complaints by adolescents. Prevalence of smokers was higher in lower socio-economic groups, but no such trend was found for the prevalence of alcohol consumers. Socio-economic status and health risk behavior interactively influenced health, when socio-economic status was assessed according to the mother's characteristics. Socio-economic health differences between non-smokers and abstainers were not significant, unlike the differences between the smokers and alcohol consumers. The influence of health risk behavior was weaker in higher socio-economic groups. CONCLUSION: Both hypotheses, of different exposure and different vulnerability, could explain socio-economic health differences among Slovak adolescents, with different exposure playing a more important role.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0353-9504
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/
ID  - ref1
ER  -