A1 Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä lehdessä

Are behavioural risk factors clusters associated with self-reported health complaints? University students in Finland




TekijätEl Ansari Walid, Suominen Sakari, El-Ansari Kareem, Šebeňa René

KustantajaCzech Medical Association J.E. Purkyne

Julkaisuvuosi2023

JournalCentral European Journal of Public Health

Tietokannassa oleva lehden nimiCentral European journal of public health

Lehden akronyymi255

Artikkelin numero248

Vuosikerta31

Numero4

ISSN1210-7778

eISSN1803-1048

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.21101/cejph.a7916

Verkko-osoitehttps://doi.org/10.21101/cejph.a7916


Tiivistelmä
ObjectivesNo previous research of university students in Finland assessed lifestyle behavioural risk factors (BRFs) and categorized students into clusters, explored the associations of the clusters with self-reported health complaints (HCs), whilst controlling for potential confounders. The current study undertook this task.MethodsStudents at the University of Turku (1,177) completed an online well-being questionnaire that assessed socio-demographic variables, 5 BRFs - problematic alcohol consumption, smoking, illicit drug use, food consumption habits, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), and 22 HCs. A food frequency questionnaire assessed students' consumption of a range of foods, and a dietary guideline adherence score was computed based on WHO dietary recommendations for Europe. Three separate regression models appraised the associations between the cluster membership and HCs factors, adjusting for sex, income sufficiency and self-rated health.ResultsMean age was 23 ± 5.2 years, 77% had never smoked and 79% never used illicit drug/s. Factor analysis of HCs resulted in four-factors (psychological, circulatory/breathing, gastro-intestinal, pains/aches); cluster analysis of BRFs identified two distinctive student clusters. Cluster 1 represented more healthy students who never smoked/used illicit drugs, had no problematic drinking, and undertook MVPA on 4.42 ± 3.36 days/week. As for cluster 2 students, half the cluster smoked occasionally/daily, used illicit drug/s, and > 50% had problematic drinking and students undertook MVPA on 4.02 ± 3.12 days/week. More cluster 2 students adhered to healthy eating recommendations, but the difference was not significant between clusters. Regression analysis revealed that females, those with sufficient income, and with excellent/very good self-rated general health were significantly less likely to report all four HCs. Cluster 2 students were significantly more likely to report psychological complaints, circulatory/breathing and gastro-intestinal complaints. There was no significant association between BRFs clusters and pains/aches factor.ConclusionsRisk taking students with less healthy lifestyles and behaviour were consistently associated with poorer psychological and somatic health.



Last updated on 2025-27-03 at 22:05