Prevalence and correlations of school-absenteeism among intermediate and secondary students in Saudi Arabia

Introduction: School absenteeism is increasingly recognized as a public health problem for healthcare professionals, policy makers, social workers, and educators. It is known to have short term as well as long term negative implications. This study aims at determining the prevalence and correlates of school absenteeism and its associated factors among intermediate and secondary students in Saudi Arabia (SA). Methods: A national cross-sectional survey was conducted among adolescents aged 10 19 years (n = 12,121). Data on school-absenteeism, socio-demographics and risk behaviors were obtained and a multinomial logistic regression was conducted. Results: The overall rate of school absenteeism was 76.1%, defind as being absent always/often, sometimes or rarely during this school year, with one-third of students being moderate or high absence. Students who reported poor relationships with their father, adolescents with polygamist fathers, smoking cigarettes, frequent napping, sleeping more than 10 h daily during weekends, being depressed or chronically ill, using the Internet for > 2 h daily, or rarely having breakfast during the last 30 days were strongly associated with high absenteeism. Conclusion: High absenteeism among adolescents warrants specific attention be given to it in SA. Serious efforts and prevention interventions are needed to decrease school absence.