Morbidity pattern and its correlates among adolescent girls residing in rural and urban areas of Haldwani, India

Abstract

Background: Adolescent girls are vulnerable to different morbidities as their health is a confluence of diverse factors, with the profile of disease burden varying from early adolescent girls of 10-14 years age, to late adolescent girls of 15-19 years age.Methods: This cross-sectional study was done in rural and urban schools of Haldwani block of district Nainital. Multistage random sampling was used to select adolescent girls of 10 to 19 years of age, who were clinically examined and interviewed. Data was analysed using SPSS v21. Statistically significant association was established by Chi-square test.Results: Common morbidities found among adolescent girls were menstrual problems (54.81%), malnutrition including nutritional deficiencies (54.03%), refractive errors (31.17%), hair problems (28.31%) and dental problems (28.18%). General morbidity was present among 51.69% and 61.47% of rural and urban girls respectively. 123 (15.97%) and 97 (12.60%) were found to suffer from skin diseases and respiratory diseases respectively.Conclusions: This study revealed a high prevalence of various morbid conditions among adolescent girls despite of various ongoing measures addressing them.