Investigation of Social Factors Affecting the Health of Hospitalized Children in Pediatric Hospitals

Aims This study was conducted to determine the social factors affecting the health of hospitalized pediatric patients. Background Social factors are one of the most influential components affecting community health. Among them, children, as one of the vulnerable groups in society, are heavily influenced by these social factors. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2022 on 357 hospitalized children in Akbar and Dr. Sheikh Mashhad hospitals using random sampling. The data were collected through face-to-face interviews with the parents of the children using the Questionnaire for Social Determinants of Children's Health. Data were analyzed using SPSS-25 statistical software and descriptive and inferential statistical tests at a significance level of 0.05. Results The mean age of the children was 5.40±4.72 years, and the mean age of the mothers was 33.32±19.56 years. The mean score of social health of the participants in the study was 56.19±12.18. A total of 244 children (68.3%) had good social health, 85 children (23.8%) had average social health, and 28 children (7.8%) had poor social health. The results showed that the mother's occupation (p=0.047) and the parental family ratio (p=0.029) had a significant relationship with the level of children's social health, however, no significant relationship was observed in other cases (p>0.05). Conclusion Understanding and paying attention to threatening, preventive, and enhancing factors of children's social health and addressing them through social interventions and actions can lead to the promotion of social health and reduction of vulnerability in the face of threatening social factors affecting children's health.