Determinants of child health status: Parent-reported health status in Jordan

Abstract

Poor health status adversely affects the child’s health in adulthood. The purposes of the study were to estimate the prevalence of most common health problems among children between 6 and 12-year-old in Jordan, to estimate the means of children’s health status, and to identify differences in children’s health status according to demographic characteristics. A cross-sectional correlational design and cluster sampling were used to include 250 parents of children between the ages of 6–12-year-old. The Child Health and Illness Profile / Parent Report Form was used to report the health status of children in this study. Descriptive statistics and t-test were used to analyze the data. The results showed that the most frequently reported child health problems were cold or flu, tonsillitis, ear infection, and upset stomach with vomiting, diarrhea, or fever. The domains of satisfaction with self (M = 92.72), comfort scale (M = 91.02), and risk avoidance (M = 91.01) had the highest means across health status domains, while resilience had the lowest mean (M = 81.60). Resilience and risk avoidance domains were significantly lower among children of parents with lower education levels, children of low-income families, and uninsured children. The achievement domain was significantly lower among children of fathers with lower education levels and boys. Comfort was significantly lower among children of low-income families. Upper respiratory and Gastrointestinal infections are important recurrent conditions that affect children aged 6 to 12 years. Parents’ report on child health domains varied. Parents’ educational level, monthly family’s income, health insurance, and child’s gender, are factors that affect child health status.