Health profile of urban adolescent girls from India

Abstract

Context: Adolescents comprise 22.5% of the population, which forms a significant part of the entire population. It is only recently that we have acknowledged the need for a separate specialty to handle adolescent problems and ailments.

Aims: The aim of the present study is to study the health profile of the adolescents girls presenting to the tertiary care hospital situated in New Delhi, India.

Materials and methods: The study was conducted on 316 adolescent girls who presented to the adolescent clinic at Smt Sucheta Kriplani Hospital, New Delhi. Apart from recording the various health problems to which they presented, a detailed HEADSS assessment was done for each case.

Results: Majority of the adolescents (60.74%) presented with menstrual problems, 78.48% discussed their problems with their parents, and 91.77% agreed on common things with them. About 69.62% were attending school or college, while 30.37% had either left or never attended school. Majority of the adolescents (77.84%) had only a few friends, 62.96% watched TV in their free time, and only 7.27% performed regular exercise. In addition, 0.94% adolescents in the study group were married. Among the 313 unmarried adolescents, 3.83% were dating and 4.47% were sexually active. There was a low incidence of teenage pregnancy (0.94%) reported in the unmarried study population. History of contraceptive use was present in only 1.26% cases, and only 5.06% of the adolescents had knowledge of HIV.

Conclusions: Adolescent health must be viewed with a comprehensive approach comprising of social, mental, physical and emotional aspects. The active involvement of the entire society, including parents and teachers, must also be encouraged towards the healthy development of adolescents.