Nationwide Report on the Findings of Integrated School Health Screening Program in Iran

Background: Screening of students´ health problems could lead to timely prevention and control of many health disorders. This study aimed to determine the nationwide prevalence of common disorders through school health screening program in Iran Methods: This cross-sectional national screening program was conducted in 2007-2008 among first- and third-grade- students in primary schools, first- grade-students of middle and high schools of all provinces in Iran.Results: Data were obtained from 3,124,021 (81.9%) students reported from the whole country classified into 33 geographical zones. Of total students studied, 12.48% had weight abnormalities, 4.77% had visual disorders, 3.95 % had head lice, 2.24% had behavioral disorders, and 0.6% had hearing disorders. Among students studied, 0.4%, 0.7%, 0.4% and0.8% had endocrine, psychological, neurological and genitourinary disorders, respectively. In addition, 2.1%, 1.9%, 1.8%, 0.8%0.5%, 0.3% and 0.3% of students had ear, nose & pharynx disorder, anemia ,skin & hair , cardiac ,abdominal, vertebral and lung problems, respectively. In elementary schools;57.6% of first-grade- students with at least one disorder were managed in outpatient settings and 6% of them were hospitalized for more investigation. Among third- grade- students of elementary schools, these values corresponded to 13.2% and 1.1%, respectively. Among first grade students of middle and high schools, this prevalence was 58.5% and 44.6% and 1.2% and 0.3% of students were hospitalized for more investigation.Conclusion: This integrated school screening program revealed a considerably high prevalence of health disorders among school students. These results might help health policy makers to design future health promoting programs

Determinants of life satisfaction in Iranian children and adolescents: the CASPIAN-IV study

Background: Life satisfaction (LS) in children and adolescents is important because of its effects on their school performance and the future adulthood life. In this multicentric study, we examined some determinants of LS in the pediatric age group. Method: This multicentric study was a part of the fourth national school-based surveillance program in Iran (2011�2012). It was conducted among 14,880 children and adolescents, aged 6�18 years, living in 30 provinces in Iran. We used the questionnaire of the World Health Organization on Global School-based Health Survey (WHO-GSHS), which was translated to Persian and validated in Iranian children and adolescents. LS was defined by a single question: �Generally, which score between 0 (the worst) to 10 (the best) do you feel well describes your life at the moment?� The score of six and above was considered as satisfied. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted to investigate the determinants of LS. Results: In total, 13,486 students completed the study (response rate 90.6). Overall, 86.7, 78.19, and 71.44 of students were satisfied with their life in elementary, middle, and high schools. Students in middle school (OR 0.83; 95 CI 0.73, 0.96) and high schools (OR 0.63; 95 CI 0.54, 0.72) were less satisfied with their life. Students with moderate (OR 1.36; 95 CI 1.20, 1.54) and good (OR 1.66; 95 CI 1.44, 1.91) socioeconomic status were more satisfied than those with low status. Those who consulted with one (OR 1.56; 95 CI 1.34, 1.81) or both (OR 2.22; 95 CI 1.89, 2.60) of their parents were more satisfied with their life. Students who felt being accepted by their peers were 1.34 (95 CI 1.18, 1.52) times more satisfied with their life. Other associated variables were weekly (OR 1.3; 95 CI 1.12, 1.572) or daily (OR 1.6; 95 CI 01.12, 1.57) fruit consumption, moderate (OR 1.14; 95 CI 1.01, 1.29) and high (OR 1.1; 95 CI 1.02, 1.347) physical activity, good self-rated health (OR 2.11; 95 CI 1.88, 2.37), and daily tooth brushing (OR 1.31; 95 CI 1.18, 1.46). Students with anxiety (OR 0.73; 95 CI 0.65, 0.82) and depression (OR 0.73; 95 CI 0.58, 0.74) were less satisfied with their life. Conclusion: Some demographic and lifestyle factors, including higher socioeconomic status, consultation with parents, healthy dietary, and physical activity habits, were associated with higher LS in children and adolescents. Then, interventions that focus on improving lifestyle factors and parents� support could increase LS among children and adolescents. © 2017 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Healt