SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE IN CHILDREN FROM TUCUMAN (ARGENTINA)

The aim of this work was to characterize the spatial distribution of health-related quality of life in children from two departments with different welfare index in Tucuman (Argentina). Specifically, it was determined the prevalence of children with low appreciations of their health-related quality of life and their territorial manifestations, detailing urban-rural differences. An ecological, exploratory-descriptive, transverse study was carried out on 1647 schoolchildren. The KIDSCREEN-52 international questionnaire was applied, it explores ten dimensions of health-related quality of life, and also, spatial indexes were developed. The thematic maps allowed to detect particularities in the studied contexts. About half of the children evaluated felt harassed and /or rejected by their peers, while feelings of sadness compromised one in three participants. The results of this work identified and delimited priority action areas, detecting specific child problems that require special attention. Finally, the resulting cartography constitutes an input that can be used in the territorial planning of health care, improving the quality of life and reducing inequalities.