[THE HEALTH AND BEHAVIOR RISK FACTORS OF THE PRE-LEVY YOUTH OF THE BUKHARA OBLAST OF THE REPUBLIC OF UZBEKISTAN:...

The purpose of the study is to comprehensively assess health status of the pre-levy youth aged 15-18, behavioral risk factors, attitudes toward military service and level of health literacy in the context of the pre-levy training system in the Republic of Uzbekistan. The cross-sectional study was carried out in September and December 2024 among 386 youth of pre-levy age (15-18 years) studying in institutions of general education of Bukhara. The adapted version of the WHO European Office Health Behavior of Schoolchildren (HBSC) questionnaire was applied with additional sections on pre-levy training that included 65 questions. The Statistical processing was performed using methods of descriptive statistics, Pearsons χ² test, Fishers exact test and Spearmans correlation analysis. The high prevalence of alcohol use was established for 89.1% of pre-levy conscripts, tobacco smoking for 42.5% (including those who tried it), and marijuana smoking in 15.5%. Among respondents, 21.2% of youths rated their health as "rather poor" or "poor". The statistically significant associations are found between tobacco smoking and the number of smoking friends (χ²=28.76, plt;0.001; OSH=4.21), alcohol consumption and age (χ²=9.21, p=0.027), marijuana use and religious affiliation (χ²=7.95, p=0.019). The counter-indications to service were found in 21.8% of draftees. The most common pathologies were scoliosis and other musculo-skeletal disorders (35.2%) and impairments of vision (32.1%). Less than half of draftees (42.5%) received full course of vaccination before service. The pre-levy youth of Bukhara region are characterized by high prevalence of behavioral risk factors, especially alcohol consumption. The "peer effect" is dominant factor in development of tobacco smoking. The systemic gaps in medical support of pre-levy training were identified. The obtained data require development of targeted prevention programs focusing on group behavior of adolescents and enhancement intersectoral cooperation in pre-levy training system.