Chronic diseases and health conditions in adolescents: Sex inequalities

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence of chronic diseases and health conditions in adolescents from Campinas (São Paulo), investigating sex differences according to age group. METHODS: This population-based study analyzed data from the ISACamp 2014/15 health survey, with a total of 1,022 adolescents interviewed. The interviewees consisted of 517 boys and 505 girls; 492 of them in the ten to 14 age group and 530 in the 15 to 19 age group. We verified the associations using the χ(2) test with Rao Scott adjustment and estimated prevalence ratios (PR) with multiple Poisson regression adjusted for age. Analyses were also stratified by age group. RESULTS: Respiratory diseases, such as rhinitis (25.3%), sinusitis (15.7%), and asthma (10.9%), were the most prevalent among adolescents. Health complaints were high, especially headaches (39.5%), emotional conditions (34.5%), allergies (27.5%), and back pain (21.3%). More than 22.0% of adolescents reported having three or more health conditions. Girls declared a higher number of health conditions (three or more) than boys (PR=2.27). CONCLUSION: The study showed that adolescents presented a significant number of health conditions, particularly regarding complaints, indicating the need for clinical care and public policies aimed at controlling and preventing these diseases in this age group.