General health status among high school students in Ilam: a cross-sectional study

Background and aims: Many factors could affect on the health status. This study aimed to assess the general health status of high-school students in Ilam province in 2014. Methods:This cross– sectional study determined the general health status of high-school students in Ilam, located in west of Iran in 2014. The samples were selected by multi-stage random sampling method. Data were collected by a two-part questionnaire. The first part of the questionnaire included the personal characteristics and the second part of the questionnaire contained General Health Questionnaire- 28 (GHQ-28. Results: A total of 381 students were enrolled in this study. Overall 236 (61.9%) of students had healthy status. In addition, 145 (38.1%) of all participants had disorder in one or more dimensions of their general health status. The mean±SD of overall score of general health was 5.78±4.53 in healthy status students and 7.83±5.72 in disorder status students. The difference in overall score of general health was statistically significant between healthy and disorder status students (P<0.001). Moreover, the differences in the age, school grade, parental education and number of children living with families were significant between healthy and disorder status students (P<0.05). Conclusion: General health is an important issue among adolescents and high-school students who are at high risk of general health disorder. Therefore, the regular evaluation of their general health status is necessary for planning an appropriate counseling program.