Male Adolescents’ Health Needs in Iran and the Associated Factors

Abstract

Background: Attention to adolescent health is one of the Millennium Development Goals. Adolescent health planning to achieve an acceptable level of health and prevention of waste of capital should be based on attention to all aspects of health and performing needs assessment. Objective: This study aims to determine the health needs of male adolescents in Iran and the factors associated with their needs. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study. Participants were boys studying in the first and second year of high school in the fields of mathematics, experimental sciences, humanities, and technical sciences at public, non-profit, and gifted & talented schools in Rasht, Iran. The sampling was done using a multi-stage cluster sampling method. Data were collected by using a demographic form and the Male Adolescent Health Needs-Assessment Scale. Results: The boys’ Mean±SD scores of physical, sexual, mental, and social health needs was 49.65±0.15, 11.39±0.12, 89.28±0.29 and 47.3±0.24, respectively. Majority of them obtained excellent scores in physical (76%) and mental health (94%) needs and a good score in social health (81.3%) need, while they earned a moderate score in sexual health need (57.8%). Liner regression analysis results showed that the physical health need of boys had a statistically significant relationship with the type of study school (P= 0.001); their sexual health need with age (P= 0.002), type of study school (P= 0.015), mother’s education (P= 0.025), and mother’s occupation (P= 0.005); their mental health need with the type of study school (P= 0.009), birth rank (P= 0.048), father’s job (P= 0.021), and mother’s job (P= 0.022); and their social health need with the type of study school (P= 0.001). Conclusion: Most important health needs of male adolescents in Iran is sexual health need followed by social, physical and mental health needs. The most important factors related to their health needs are type of study school, mother’s job and education, birth rank, and father’s job. The results of this study can be effective and useful in designing and implementing need-based interventions to promote male adolescents’ health.