title: Indicators of violence and asthma: An ecological study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Global studies on asthma point to socioeconomic status as one of the main variables in terms of prevalence and disease severity in various parts of the world. Social factors related to community violence have been linked to higher incidence of asthma in the current studies. This study investigates the relationship between indicators of both community violence and development and hospital admissions due to asthma.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was an analytical ecological study of multiple groups, using public databases with information up until 2006. All Brazilian municipalities with more than 100,000 inhabitants were considered as units of analysis. The main index used as socioeconomic indicator was the FIRJAN Index of Municipal Development (FIMD). The Index of Youth Vulnerability to Violence (IYVV) was used as indicators of community violence. The rate of admissions due to asthma was used as the outcome. Pearson's correlation was used for multivariate analyses. The coefficient of determination (R(2)) was calculated and the simple linear regression model adjusted for significant correlations.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was an inverse correlation between asthma admissions and FIMD (r = -0.354, p < 0.001), with statistical significance for all dimensions of the index. Admissions due to asthma were associated with the IYVV (r = 0.240, p < 0.001) and its component related to school attendance and employment (r = 0.315, p < 0.001), homicides (r = 0.112, p = 0.034), and poverty (r = 0.303, p < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There was a direct correlation between indicators of violence and rates of admission due asthma, and an inverse correlation with indicators of development. These results suggest that social detriment can act as a risk factor for hospital admissions due to asthma.
authors.affiliation: Medicine Course, University of Southern Santa Catarina (UNISUL), Palhoça, Brazil.
authors.forename: Fábio de Oliveira
authors.initials: Fde O
authors.lastname: Tabalipa
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Program in Health Sciences, UNISUL, Palhoça, Brazil.
authors.forename: Rodrigo Boff
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Daitx
authors.affiliation: Medicine Course, University of Southern Santa Catarina (UNISUL), Palhoça, Brazil; Postgraduate Program in Health Sciences, UNISUL, Palhoça, Brazil.
authors.forename: Jefferson Luiz
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Traebert
authors.affiliation: Medicine Course, University of Southern Santa Catarina (UNISUL), Palhoça, Brazil.
authors.forename: Adriano Schaefer
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Meyer
authors.affiliation: Medicine Course, University of Southern Santa Catarina (UNISUL), Palhoça, Brazil; Postgraduate Program in Health Sciences, UNISUL, Palhoça, Brazil. Electronic address: janedasilva1808@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: da Silva
mesh_terms: D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002947:Cities; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D015995:Prevalence; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014754:Violence
keywords: Asthma; Ecological study; Hospitalization; Violence