A Comparative Study of Adolescent and Youth Health Status: A Systematic Review

Adolescence is in fact a transition from childhood to adulthood. The health of adolescents and youth is very important given the large percentage of the population in each country. The purpose of this study was to determine the health status of adolescents and youth in Iran and some selected countries.

In a systematic review comparative study, all articles published during the last two decades (2019-2000) in Persian and English in the field of adolescent and youth health 10-24 years, in Iran and Selected countries were evaluated on the basis of macro-economic indicators. This information is provided through the SID, Iran Medex, Iran Doc, Magi Ran, PubMed, Ovid, Science Direct, Google Scholar CINAHL was obtained using keywords, Health Status, Adolescent, Youth, Health Status. For data collection, a "Data Extraction Form" designed based on the purpose of the study was used.

The search resulted in 103 internal and external articles related to the subject, 83 of which were excluded due to lack of inclusion criteria and eventually 20 were included in the study. Among adolescents and young people in Iran, the prevalence of physical health problems is 33%, mental health is 17% to 72% in different regions and the prevalence of high risk behaviors is 44%. Among the selected countries, the least prevalent health problems among adolescents and youth were in Australia and the highest in the United States.

Comparing the health status of adolescents and youth in Iran and selected countries showed that the health status of adolescents and youth is a serious problem and the health of this age group is not sufficiently considered. It is suggested that policy making be carried out to optimize the management structure, health of adolescents and youth in Iran.