HEALTH STATUS OF ADOLESCENT IN NAVI MUMBAI

Abstract

-Background: The adolescence is phase of rapid growth and development where there is great deal of change taking place like physically, socially and emotionally. The major causes of death, disease and disability for young people have been identified as vehicular accident, suicide and unintentional injuries. But this is just a tip of ice berg, major health hazards like chronic illness and diseases are commonly caused by exposure to risk factors long before the onset of illness. It is the behavior pattern that is established during adolescence period which makes individuals susceptible to a number of illnesses that develop later in life. Introduction The study was a cross-sectional study of the subject population. The units of the study were 17-19 years old adolescents studying in various colleges in Navi Mumbai. For the purpose of study; city was divided into 3 divisions. All the colleges in the region were included in the sampling frame. The questioner was developed with collection of existing survey [1] and discussion with health professionals. The questionnaire was piloted in a college among 17-19 years students. Structured and planned questioner was given to individuals and reliability of questioner was tested, which was found to be 97%. The same questioner was used in main study. A multi stage sampling design was used to draw a representative sample of first year students of Colleges. The first stage was selection of six colleges by random sampling. In the selected colleges, one section from each class was randomly chosen. All students in the selected classes were present on the days of the survey, were eligible to participate, allowing for anonymous and voluntary participation. Written permission and consent from the principals was obtained prior to conducting the study in their colleges. Materials and Methods Objective: To identify the most common health risks amongst college-going adolescents in Navi Mumbai and establish the need of Adolescent clinics. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Six colleges in Navi Mumbai. Participants: Three hundred and seventeen adolescents aged 17-19 years. One hundred and ninety (59.9%) were females and one hundred twenty-seven (40.1%) were males.