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. 2017 Dec 19;17(1):967.
doi: 10.1186/s12889-017-4969-1.

Self-rated health and perceived violence in the neighborhood is heterogeneous between young women and men

Aline Almeida Bentes  1   2 , Cibele Comini César  3   4 , César Coelho Xavier  4   5 , Waleska Teixeira Caiaffa  4 , Fernando Augusto Proietti  3   5
Affiliations

Self-rated health and perceived violence in the neighborhood is heterogeneous between young women and men

Aline Almeida Bentes et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Self-rated health (SRH) is the general perception of an individual's own health and a key indicator to measure health in population-based studies. Few studies have examined the association between perceived urban violence and SRH among young adults. There were an estimated 475,000 deaths in 2012 as a result of homicide on the world. Sixty percent of these deaths occurred among males aged 15-44 years, making homicide the third leading cause of death for this population group. This study aimed to determine and quantify the association between sex-specific perception of violence in the neighborhood and SRH among young adults.

Methods: Participants included 955 young adults (18-29 years) residing in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil between 2008 and 2009. Logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the strength of the associations. The perceived urban violence score was constructed from variables that assessed the respondents' insecurity and perception of fear and danger of suffering some form of violence in the neighborhood using exploratory factor analysis.

Results: 18,3% of respondents rated their health as fair/ poor/very poor. Among women, fair/ poor/very poor SRH was associated with age between 25 and 29 years, low socioeconomic status score, being dissatisfied with weight, not exercising regularly, not having a healthy diet, and having some chronic disease. Men who rated their health as fair/poor/very poor more frequently smoked, were dissatisfied with their weight, did not exercise regularly, consumed fewer fruits and vegetables, and had some chronic disease compared to men who rated their health as very good/good. In the final model, after adjusting for confounding variables, perceived violence in the neighborhood was associated with poor SRH in young women only (OR = 1.52; 95% CI: 1.04-2.21).

Conclusion: The results indicate that public and health policies should implement interventions on the neighborhood physical and social environment to improve the perception of safety and have a positive impact on people's health, especially women.

Keywords: Perceived urban violence; Self-rated health; Urban population health; Young adults (18–29 years).

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), Brazil, under protocol numbers ETCI 253/006 and ETCI 017/07. After being informed about the objectives of the study, residents who were drawn were invited to participate and sign a consent form.

Consent for publication

Not applicable

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Schematic representation of the contribution of neighborhood environment to health, adapt from Diez Roux and Mair [13]
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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