Original Research
Representative Values of Health-Related Quality of Life Among Female and Male Adolescent Athletes and the Impact of Gender

Athletic Training & Sports Health Care  Vol. 2   No. 3   May/June 2010

By Tomomi Tanabe, MS, ATC; Alison R. Snyder, PhD, ATC; R. Curtis Bay, PhD; Tamara C. Valovich McLeod, PhD, ATC

ABSTRACT

The Medical Outcome Study 36-item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) and the Pediatric Outcomes Data Collection Instrument (PODCI) were used to determine the effects of gender on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in adolescent athletes. Two hundred nineteen athletes (121 females: mean age, 16.1±1.0; 98 males: mean age, 15.8±1.2) completed the SF-36 and the PODCI in a single session. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to determine the normality of the data; the Mann-Whitney U test was used to identify gender differences. Significance was set at P < .05. Female athletes had lower HRQOL values than male athletes on the SF-36 vitality (P = .035) subscale and the mental component summary (P = .024) score. Female athletes also had lower HRQOL scores on the PODCI happiness subscale (P < .001). Few differences were found in HRQOL across gender. Differences were found in psychological aspects of HRQOL, with female athletes having lower psychological well-being than male athletes.

AUTHORS

The authors are from the Department of Interdisciplinary Health Sciences, and Ms Tanabe, Dr Snyder, and Dr Valovich McLeod are also from the Post-Professional Athletic Training Program, A.T. Still University, Mesa, Ariz.

Originally submitted June 23, 2009.

Accepted for publication January 6, 2010.

Posted online March 9, 2010.

Support for this research project was provided through an internal grant awarded by A.T. Still University.

The authors have no financial or proprietary interest in the materials presented herein.

Address correspondence to Alison R. Snyder, PhD, ATC, Department of Interdisciplinary Health Sciences, A.T. Still University, 5850 E. Still Circle, Mesa, AZ 85206; e-mail: arsnyder@atsu.edu.

doi:10.3928/19425864-20100301-01