| dc.description.abstract | Objectives: To examine the extent to which smoking,
alcohol, physical activity and mental health problems in
15–16-year-olds are associated with receipt of medical
benefits in young adulthood, after adjustment for
confounders.
Design: Prospective population-based cohort survey
linked to national registers.
Participants: In the ‘Youth studies’ from the
Norwegian Institute of Public Health, 15 966 10th
graders in 6 Norwegian counties answered a health
behaviour and mental health questionnaire; 88% were
linked to National Insurance Administration Registers
(FD-Trygd).
Outcome measure: Time to receipt of medical
benefits, based on FD-Trygd. Follow-up was from age
18 years until participants were aged 22–26 years.
Method: We performed Cox regression analyses to
examine the extent to which variations in health
behaviour and mental health problems during 10th
grade were associated with receipt of medical benefits
during follow-up.
Results: Daily smoking at age 15–16 years was
associated with a significant increase in hazard of
receiving health benefits at follow-up compared with not
smoking for boys, HR (95% CI) 1.56 (1.23 to 1.98),
and for girls 1.47 (1.12 to 1.93). Physical activity was
associated with a decrease in hazard compared with
inactivity from 23% to 53% in boys and from 21% to
59% in girls, while use of alcohol showed a mixed
pattern. The hazard for benefits use rose with increasing
levels of emotional symptoms, peer problems, conduct
problems and hyperactivity–inattention problems
(Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire) at
15–16 years among both genders.
Conclusions: Health behaviour and mental health
problems in adolescence are independent risk factors
for receipt of medical benefits in young adulthood. | |
