Perceived health and its relation with macrosocial and individual factors in children from two departments of Tucumán, Argentina.

INTRODUCCION: El estudio de la calidad de vida relacionada con la salud (CVRS) durante la infancia permite identificar factores que condicionan el crecimiento y el desarrollo. Los objetivos de este trabajo fueron: a) describir la CVRS de ninos con edades comprendidas entre 8,0 y 11,9 anos que residian en la provincia de Tucuman; y b) analizar si la CVRS variaba en relacion con factores macrosociales (calidad de vida departamental, residencia urbano-rural, nivel socioeconomico) e individuales (edad y sexo). POPULATION AND METHODS: Quantitative and cross-sectional study among students from the departments of Yerba Buena and Simoca. The KIDSCREEN-52 questionnaire was administered to measure the HRQoL dimensions, and Student" s t tests, analysis of variance and multivariate logistic regression analysis to evaluate the data according to macrosocial and individual factors. RESULTS: A total of 1647 surveys were analyzed. Younger students and of male sex, in general, had a better perception of their health. Yerba Buena residents had mean scores that were significantly lower in the financial resources dimension, as compared to residents of Simoca (45.3 vs. 46.7, p: 0.01). There was no association between the socioeconomic status and the HRQoL. Children from rural areas had the lowest scores in most dimensions, with significant differences in selfperception (51.3 vs. 53.0, p: 0.01) and mood (43.2 vs. 44.5, p: 0.03). CONCLUSIONES: La salud percibida de los ninos de Yerba Buena y Simoca vario en relacion a aspectos macrosociales e individuales. En Yerba Buena, la percepcion de los recursos economicos fue peor respecto de Simoca. En general, las apreciaciones de los ninos urbanos fueron mas favorables que las de los rurales. Los varones y los escolares de menor edad percibieron mejor su salud.