Risk behaviors screening in Thai adolescents with acute and chronic illnesses

Lalit Leelathipkul; Suwanna Ruangkanchanasetr; Jiraporn Arunakul

doi:10.1515/ijamh-2018-0047

Article

Risk behaviors screening in Thai adolescents with acute and chronic illnesses

Lalit Leelathipkul , Suwanna Ruangkanchanasetr and Jiraporn Arunakul

Published/Copyright: October 30, 2018

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From the journal International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health Volume 33 Issue 1

Abstract

Background

Adolescence is considered as a transition period from childhood to adulthood. This transition leads to various types of risk behaviors. Ten percent of adolescents suffer from a chronic illness that can limit their daily activities and which may exhibit higher rates of risk behaviors than those without chronic illnesses.

Objective

To evaluate the prevalence of risk behaviors in chronically ill adolescents compared to adolescents without chronic illnesses and their associated risk factors.

Methods

We enrolled 312 patients aged 10–20 years who visited Ramathibodi Hospital from January 2015 to December 2017. There were 161 adolescents with chronic illnesses and 151 without a chronic illness. We used a computer-based program for the Youth Risk Behaviors Survey as well as a confidentiality interview. Statistical analyses included the chi-squared (χ²) and Student’s t-tests as appropriate.

Results

The risk behaviors in chronically ill adolescents were the following: learning problems, 86.3%; excessive screen time, 62.3%; unintentional injuries, 60.2%; depression, 38.5%; low self-esteem, 18.1%; substance abuse, 13% and sexual behavior, 6.2%. Youths with a chronic illness were more likely to report significantly higher risk of excessive screen time (62.3% vs. 48%, p = 0.01), depression (38.5% vs. 15.9%, p < 0.01) and, also low self-esteem (18.1% vs. 8.6%, p = 0.01) compared to those without chronic illness.

Conclusions

These results indicated that adolescents with chronic illnesses engage more in health risk behaviors and are prone to mental health and learning problems. These data emphasize the importance of health risk behavior screening and preventive counseling for young patients with chronic illnesses where these risks might worsen their disease.

Keywords: adolescents with chronic illness; Asian adolescents; excessive screen time; mental health problems; risk behaviors

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Developmental Potentials of Thai People Project, Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Bangkok, Thailand.

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Received: 2018-02-27

Accepted: 2018-08-28

Published Online: 2018-10-30

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Articles in the same Issue

https://doi.org/10.1515/ijamh-2018-0047

Keywords for this article

adolescents with chronic illness; Asian adolescents; excessive screen time; mental health problems; risk behaviors