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Table 2 Descriptive data for health-related quality of life, health literacy and COVID-19-related worries of adolescents and parents

From: Health-related quality of life, health literacy and COVID-19-related worries of 16- to 17-year-old adolescents and parents one year into the pandemic: a cross-sectional study

Adolescent characteristics

Total (N = 215)

Boys (n = 66)

Girls (n = 149)

P-value

HRQoL, mean (SD) a

44.3 (7.8)

47.5 (8.8)

42.8 (6.8)

<.001

Health literacy, median (min, max) b

34 (20, 40)

35 (20,40)

34 (21,40)

.096

The COVID-19 pandemic changing life negatively, N (%) c

   

.092

 No, not at all

29 (13.5)

12 (18.2)

17 (11.4)

 

 Yes, a little

78 (36.3)

28 (42.4)

50 (33.6)

 

 Yes, considerably

108 (50.2)

26 (39.4)

82 (55.0)

 

The COVID-19 pandemic changing life positively, N (%) c

   

.047

 No, not at all

42 (19.5)

19 (28.8)

23 (15.4)

 

 Yes, a little

115 (53.5)

34 (51.5)

81 (54.4)

 

 Yes, considerably

58 (27.0)

13 (19.7)

45 (30.2)

 

Worried about becoming sick with COVID-19 d

   

.032

 Not worried at all

92 (42.8)

37 (56.1)

55 (36.9)

 

 A little worried

99 (46.0)

23 (34.8)

76 (51.0)

 

 Worried a lot

24 (11.2)

6 (9.1)

18 (12.1)

 

Worried about infecting others with COVID-19 d

   

.001

 Not worried at all

15 (7.0)

9 (13.6)

6 (4.0)

 

 A little worried

58 (27.0)

25 (37.9)

33 (22.1)

 

 Worried a lot

142 (66.0)

32 (48.5)

110 (73.8)

 

Worried about family/friends becoming sick with COVID-19 e

   

.021

 Not worried at all

17 (7.9)

9 (13.6)

8 (7.9)

 

 A little worried

67 (31.2)

25 (37.9)

67 (31.2)

 

 Worried a lot

131 (60.9)

32 (48.5)

131 (60.9)

 

Worried about my school grades e

   

.120

 Not worried at all

72 (33.5)

26 (39.4)

46 (30.9)

 

 A little worried

84 (39.1)

28 (42.4)

56 (37.6)

 

 Worried a lot

59 (27.4)

12 (18.2)

47 (31.5)

 

Worried about my family’s economy d

   

.503

 Not worried at all

152 (70.7)

49 (74.2)

103 (69.1)

 

 A little worried

32 (14.9)

7 (10.6)

25 (16.8)

 

 Worried a lot

31 (14.4)

10 (15.2)

21 (14.1)

 

Worried about the economy in Norway d

   

.001

 Not worried at all

103 (47.9)

42 (63.6)

61 (40.9)

 

 A little worried

88 (40.9)

15 (22.7)

73 (49.0)

 

 Worried a lot

24 (11.2)

9 (13.6)

15 (10.1)

 

Parent characteristics

Total (N = 320)

Men (n = 62)

Women (n = 258)

P-value

HRQoL

 RAND-36 PCS, median (min, max) e

54.7 (14.7, 67.5)

55.0 (35.2, 62.4)

54.6 (14.7, 67.5)

.152

 RAND-36 MCS, median (min, max) e

54.4 (10.1, 67.3)

55.6 (28.5, 65.8)

54.0 (10.1, 67.2)

.041

Health literacy f

 Having sufficient information to manage my health, mean (SD)g

3.2 (0.5)

3.3 (0.5)

3.2 (0.4)

.480

 Actively managing my health, mean (SD) g

3.0 (0.5)

2.9 (0.5)

3.0 (0.5)

.117

 Appraisal of health information, mean (SD) g

2.9 (0.5)

2.8 (0.4)

2.9 (0.5)

.954

 Ability to find good health information, mean (SD) h

4.9 (0.5)

4.1 (0.5)

4.0 (0.5)

.168

 Understand health information well enough to know what to do, mean (SD) h

4.1 (0.5)

4.1 (0.5)

4.1 (0.5)

.324

The COVID-19 pandemic changing life negatively, N (%) c

   

.539

 No, not at all

62 (19.4)

9 (14.5)

53 (16.6)

 

 Yes, a little

155 (48.4)

31 (50.0)

124 (48.1)

 

 Yes, considerably

103 (32.2)

22 (35.5)

81 (31.4)

 

The COVID-19 pandemic changing life positively, N (%) c

   

<.001

 No, not at all

103 (32.2)

32 (51.6)

71 (27.5)

 

 Yes, a little

165 (51.6)

27 (43.5)

138 (53.5)

 

 Yes, considerably

52 (16.3)

3 (4.8)

49 (19.0)

 

Worried about becoming sick with COVID-19 d

   

.013

 Not worried at all

161 (50.3)

41 (66.1)

120 (46.5)

 

 A little worried

139 (43.4)

20 (32.3)

119 (46.1)

 

 Worried a lot

20 (6.3)

1 (1.6)

19 (7.4)

 

Worried about infecting others with COVID-19d

   

.003

 Not worried at all

58 (18.1)

19 (30.6)

39 (15.1)

 

 A little worried

142 (44.4)

29 (46.8)

113 (43.8)

 

 Worried a lot

120 (37.5)

14 (22.6)

106 (41.1)

 

Worried about family/friends becoming sick with COVID-19 d

   

.005

 Not worried at all

44 (13.8)

16 (25.8)

28 (10.9)

 

 A little worried

151 (47.2)

29 (46.8)

122 (47.3)

 

 Worried a lot

125 (39.1)

17 (27.4)

108 (41.9)

 

Worried about work d

   

.729

 Not worried at all

225 (70.3)

42 (67.7)

183 (70.9)

 

 A little worried

66 (20.6)

15 (24.2)

51 (19.8)

 

 Worried a lot

29 (9.1)

5 (8.1)

24 (9.3)

 

Worried about my family’s economy d

   

.989

 Not worried at all

224 (70.0)

43 (69.4)

181 (70.2)

 

 A little worried

70 (21.9)

14 (22.6)

56 (21.7)

 

 Worried a lot

26 (8.1)

5 (8.1)

21 (8.1)

 

Worried about the economy in Norway d

   

.891

 Not worried at all

78 (24.7)

16 (25.8)

63 (24.4)

 

 A little worried

172 (53.8)

34 (54.8)

138 (53.5)

 

 Worried a lot

69 (21.6)

12 (19.4)

57 (22.1)

 
  1. Continuous variables analyzed using an independent t-test and Mann–Whitney U test. Categorical variables analyzed with χ2-test
  2. P-values marked with bold print indicate statistically significant differences between gender (P ≤ 0.05)
  3. HRQoL, health-related quality of life; SD, standard deviation; PCS, physical component sum score; MCS, mental component sum score
  4. aKIDSCREEN-10. Rasch scores were computed and transformed into t-values, with a mean of 50 and an SD of 10. Higher values indicate higher levels of HRQoL
  5. bSum score obtained from the Health Literacy in School-Aged Children questionnaire (min–max: 10–40). Higher scores indicate higher levels of health literacy
  6. cThe variable was recoded into three categories: “No, not at all,” “Yes, a little” and “Yes, considerably” (yes, partly, a lot, considerably)
  7. dThe variable was recoded into three categories: “Not worried at all,” “A little worried” and “Worried a lot” (quite worried, worried a lot)
  8. eRAND-36 scores range from 0 to 100, where 100 means perfect health
  9. fSum scores obtained from the Health Literacy Questionnaire. Higher scores indicate higher levels of health literacy
  10. gScales with a possible total score of 1–4
  11. hScales with a possible total score of 1–5
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BMC Public Health

ISSN: 1471-2458

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