The health complaints of school age children in Turkey

INTRODUCTION: This study aims to identify the frequency of the most seen health complaints and the relations with the socio-demographic characteristics of households in Turkey.
METHODS: Turkey Health Survey research was conducted as cross sectional study by The Turkish Statistical Institute (TURKSTAT). Within the scope of the research, the health status history of a total of 3,921 children aged 7-14 was examined to identify the following factors: Gender and age of the children, some sociodemographic characteristics of their households, having any health complaints in the last 6 months, treatment status at health-care facility for the children aged 7-14 years.
RESULTS: The findings showed that of the 3,921 children who participated in this research, 50.8% were male, 34.4% had at least one health complaint, and 88.0% of the children with health complaints were treated. The most seen health complaints in the children in the last 6 months were oral and dental-related health complaints (25.8%), eye-related health complaints (14.6%) and infectious diseases (9.8%). According to the results of the logistic regression, as the higher numbers of people living in the household, the presence of a person who define his health status as poor and the presence of an individual with chronic disease in the household are effecting the presence of the health complaints in children negatively.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: We have found that the health status of children can be effected in families with chronic disease or poor health, and suggest that researches on child health should be investigated deeply in such families.