Health‐related quality of life in indigenous Sami schoolchildren in Sweden. (7th October 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Omma, Lotta; Petersen, Solveig
• Is Part Of: Acta pædiatrica. Volume 104:Number 1(2015:Jan.)
• Page Start: 75
• Page End: 83
• Publication Date: 2014-10-07
• Subjects: Pediatrics -- Periodicals; Pediatrics; 618.92
• DOI: 10.1111/apa.12786
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0803-5253

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" id="apa12786-abs-0001"> <title>Abstract</title> <sec id="apa12786-sec-0001" sec-type="section"> <title>Aim</title> <p>To investigate health‐related quality of life (HRQOL) in indigenous Sami schoolchildren in Sweden and its associations with sex, age, enculturation and ethnicity‐related negative treatment.</p> </sec> <sec id="apa12786-sec-0002" sec-type="section"> <title>Methods</title> <p>The study population was comprised of all children in grades 6–12 (ages 12–18 years) who attended specific Sami school programmes in Sweden. HRQOL was measured by the Kidscreen‐52 self‐report form, which was filled in at school (n = 121).</p> </sec> <sec id="apa12786-sec-0003" sec-type="section"> <title>Results</title> <p>The indigenous Sami children in Sweden experienced lower HRQOL than Swedish children in general, with regard to their school situation, financial resources, parents' relations, physical well‐being and social support from peers. In Sami children, functioning and well‐being generally decreased by older age group and girls reported lower physical well‐being, more negative feelings and more negative self‐perception than boys. Finally, more than half of the Sami children had experienced ethnicity‐related negative treatment, and these children reported a robustly lower functioning and well‐being compared with those without this experience.</p> </sec> <sec id="apa12786-sec-0004" sec-type="section"> <title>Conclusion</title> <p>In some aspects of HRQOL, indigenous Sami schoolchildren with an explicit ethnic identity experienced less favourable functioning and well‐being than Swedish children in general, which is worrisome. A high degree of ethnicity‐related negative treatment may partly explain this lower HRQOL in Sami children.</p> </sec> </abstract>