General health status among high school students in Ilam: a cross-sectional study

Background and aims: many factors could affect on the health status. this study aimed to assess the general health status of high-school students in ilam province in 2014. methods: this cross– sectional study determined the general health status of high-school students in ilam, located in west of iran in 2014. the samples were selected by multistage random sampling method. data were collected by a two-part questionnaire. the first part of the questionnaire included the personal characteristics and the second part of the questionnaire contained general health questionnaire- 28 (ghq-28. results: a total of 381 students were enrolled in this study. overall 236 (61.9%) of students had healthy status. in addition, 145 (38.1%) of all participants had disorder in one or more dimensions of their general health status. the mean±sd of overall score ofgeneral health was 5.78±4.53 in healthy status students and 7.83±5.72 in disorder statusstudents. the difference in overall score of general health was statistically significantbetween healthy and disorder status students (p<0.001). moreover, the differences in the age, school grade, parental education and number of children living with families were significant between healthy and disorder status students (p<0.05). conclusion: general health is an important issue among adolescents and high-school students who are at high risk of general health disorder. therefore, the regular evaluation of their general health status is necessary for planning an appropriate counseling program.