Health-Related Quality of Life Is Low in Secondary School Children in Fiji

Abstract

The health and wellbeing of children in lower-income countries is the focus of much international effort, yet there has been very little direct measurement of this. Objective. The current objective was to study the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in a general population of secondary school children in Fiji, a low middle-income country in the Pacific. Methods. Self-reported HRQoL was measured by the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory 4.0 in 8947 school children (aged 12–18 years) from 18 secondary schools on Viti Levu, the main island of Fiji. HRQoL in Fiji was compared to that of school-aged children in 13 high- and upper middle-income countries. Results. The school children in Fiji had lower HRQoL than the children in the 13 comparison countries, with consistently lower physical, emotional, social, and school functioning and wellbeing. HRQoL was particularly low amongst girls and Indigenous Fijians. Conclusions. These findings raise concerns about the general functioning and wellbeing of school children in Fiji. The consistently low HRQoL across all core domains suggests pervasive underlying determinants. Investigation of the potential determinants in Fiji and validation of the current results in Fiji and other lower-income countries are important avenues for future research.

Health-Related Quality of Life Among Jordanian Adolescents

“…In this study, the HRQoL index was 70.0, which is comparable to other studies (Haraldstad et al, 2011; Petersen et al, 2012). However, it contradicted the results of Svedberg et al (2013), in which the HRQoL index was good.…”

“…Adolescents aged 12 to 14 years have scored higher on the HRQoL (physical and psychological well-being, moods and emotions, self-perception, school environment, and autonomy dimensions) than older groups (aged 15-18 years). Petersen et al (2012) found that lower social and physical quality of life were reported among 12- to 14-year-old adolescents, while adolescents aged between 15 and 18 years reported lower quality of life in emotional and school functioning. Moreover, a decrease in HRQoL was reported among adolescents after 12 years of age, and female adolescents have complained of stronger declines in the physical, psychological, and mood and emotion dimensions (Bisegger, Cloetta, von Bisegger, Abel, & Ravens-Sieberer, 2005; Svedberg, Eriksson, & Boman, 2013).…”

“…In one study, male adolescents scored higher than female adolescents in the emotional dimensions, while female adolescents scored higher than male adolescents in regard to the school dimensions (Klatchoian, Len, Terreri, & Hilario 2010). Finally, female adolescents have been shown to score lower than male adolescents in all HRQoL dimensions (Al-Fayez & Ohaeri, 2011;Bolton et al, 2014;Haraldstad, et al, 2011;Petersen et al, 2012).…”

Health-related quality of life in indigenous Sami schoolchildren in Sweden

“…Again the differences were most salient with regard to functioning and well‐being in school, and in grade 9 also regarding financial recourses. Similar results were reported in a study from Fiji, establishing lower HRQOL, particularly lower school functioning and well‐being, in the indigenous group compared to the rest of the population .…”

Low health-related quality of life in school-aged children in Tonga, a lower-middle income country in the South Pacific

“…Investigations of child-HRQoL in general populations, including socio-demographic variations, are particularly limited and the evidence is almost exclusively reliant on data from upper-middle or high-income (higher income) countries, primarily in the West ( 6 ). This evidence may not be directly transferable to low- or lower-middle income (lower income) countries, or non-Western cultures.…”