Injuries and risk-taking behaviours in Portuguese adolescents: highlights from the health behaviour in school-aged children survey.

AIM Injuries in adolescence are an important public health problem and a major cause of morbidity and mortality in this age group. This study aimed to determine the behaviour profile associated to risk of injury and the differences between genders, region and ethnic origin. METHODS A cross-sectional study design of a nationally representative sample of 1581 adolescents of the Portuguese Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children study. RESULTS An occurrence of one injury-related event in the previous year was reported by 21.4% of the respondents and 5.9% referred having more than one injury-related event. Boys reported higher frequency of those events when compared to girls, and non-Portuguese subjects referred higher frequency of events. Scoring higher in violence-related behaviour and psychosomatic complaints was associated to higher chances of referring more than one injury-related event. CONCLUSION Gender, social background and behaviour profile are factors that seem to influence the risk of injuries. This information should guide those involved in the planning of injuries prevention programs in youth.