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Health-related quality of life: gender differences in childhood and adolescence

Bisegger, Corinna ; Cloetta, Bernhard ; von Bisegger, Ursula ; Abel, Thomas ; Ravens-Sieberer, Ulrike

In: Sozial- und Präventivmedizin, 2005, vol. 50, no. 5, p. 281-291

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    Title
    • Health-related quality of life: gender differences in childhood and adolescence
    Author
    • Bisegger, Corinna. Departement of Social and Preventive Medicine, Social and Behavioural Health Research, University of Berne, Niesenweg 6, CH-3012, Bern, Switzerland
    • Cloetta, Bernhard. Departement of Social and Preventive Medicine, Social and Behavioural Health Research, University of Berne, Niesenweg 6, CH-3012, Bern, Switzerland
    • von Bisegger, Ursula. Child and Adolescent Health, Robert-Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany
    • Abel, Thomas. Departement of Social and Preventive Medicine, Social and Behavioural Health Research, University of Berne, Niesenweg 6, CH-3012, Bern, Switzerland
    • Ravens-Sieberer, Ulrike. Child and Adolescent Health, Robert-Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany
    Document Type
    • Postprint
    Language
    • English
    Published in
    • Sozial- und Präventivmedizin, 2005, vol. 50, no. 5, p. 281-291. Birkhäuser-Verlag; www.birkhauser.ch
    Other Version
    OAI-PMH Identifier
    • oai:doc.rero.ch:319435
    Summary
    Summary.: Objectives: To assess whether gender and age differences can be found in different aspects of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of children and adolescents, and to what extent these results correspond to theoretical and empirical findings from developmental psychology. Methods: A newly developed HRQOL questionnaire was completed by 3 710 youths aged nine to 17years in seven European countries. The "Kidscreen 52” questionnaire consists of 10 scales operationalising aspects of the physical, psychological and social dimensions of HRQOL. With the use of ANOVA and effect sizes, the influence of age and gender on aspects of HRQOL is reported. Results: Children report a very good quality of life largely independent of gender. After 12years, HRQOL decreases in the majority of aspects. In the physical and psychological dimensions, a stronger decrease is found for females than for males. Conclusions: Children have higher HRQOL than adolescents in many aspects. With increasing age, HRQOL is frequently worse for females than for males. Examination of the individual aspects leads to a differentiation of the results with relevance for public health