Quality of Life and Self-Efficacy of Adolescents with Chronic Health Conditions

Abstract

Objective: Chronic Health Conditions (CHC) and problems among adolescents have recently become more frequent. CHC may have an influence on their perception of quality of life and self-efficacy. This research aimed to compare quality of life and self-efficacy among adolescents with CHC and without CHC. Methods: The research was conducted with 778 adolescents from a high school. Students were asked as follows: "Have you had any health condition which requires a doctor supervision and/or which requires continuous medication (pills, injection, oral or nasal usage) at least for 6 months or more?" All students completed the Self-Efficacy Questionnaire for Children (SEQ-C) and Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL). Results: All diseases declared by the students are accepted as chronic health conditions. The frequency of having chronical health condition is 19.5% among the high school students. PedsQL for adolescents with CHC were significantly lower compared to those without CHC (p<0.001). When sub-groups of PedsQL were examined, it was found that adolescents with CHC had significantly lower school functioning scores compared to other subscale scores (p=0.005). There was no statistically significant difference between the participants with CHC and others in terms of (SEQ-C) (p>0.05). Conclusion: It has been observed that the PedQL of students with chronic health problems was negatively affected as a result of our work. Lower QoL associated with school functioning of adolescents with chronic health problems suggests the importance of school-related factors (friends, teachers and physical structure) in the intervention of improving quality of life. (English) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]