Quality of life and associated factors among secondary school students in Guangzhou

Objective To explore the quality of life and associated factors among secondary school students in Guangzhou.Methods By using stratified random cluster sampling, a questionnaire survey on Quality of Life Scale for Children and Adolescents (QLSCA) and Student Stress Assessment (SSA) was conducted among 5 781 students from 14 secondary schools in Guangzhou.Results There were significant differences in quality of life in gender, school type and grade (P<0.05).Boys scored higher in living conditions, while lower in social psychological function, compared with girls.Key school students scored higher than normal school students, and junior middle school students scored higher than high school students.Significant difference was also noticed among students whose parents had different educational background (P<0.05).The quality of life of secondary school students in Guangzhou was significantly lower than the national norm (P < 0.05).Academic pressure, age, gender highly correlated with students 'quality of life.Conclusion The quality of life among secondary school students in Guangzhou is far from satisfactory, and relevant strategies should be adopted to improve their quality of life effectively.