title: Association of perceived neighborhood problems and census tract income with poor self-rated health in adults: a multilevel approach.
abstract: Neighborhood problems constitute sources of chronic stress that may increase the risk of poor self-rated health. The associations of census tract level income and perceived neighborhood problems with self-rated health were examined in Florianópolis, Santa Catarina State, Brazil (1,720 adults). Odds ratios (OR) and their 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) of poor self-rated health were estimated through multilevel models. Residents in census tracts in the lower and intermediate tertiles of income reported poorer health than those in the highest tertile. OR of reporting poorer health was 2.44 (95%CI: 2.35- 2.54) in the higher tertile of social disorder (adjusting for mental health). The chances of reporting the poorer health with neighborhood problems ranged from 1.07 (95%CI: 1.03-1.11) to 2.02 (95%CI: 1.95-2.10) for the higher tertile of social disorder (physical health) and physical problem (health-related variables). Perceived neighborhood problems were independently associated with poor health. The perception of a neighborhood among its residents should be considered by health policymakers.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Nutrição, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Brasil.
authors.forename: Doroteia Aparecida
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Höfelmann
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Drexel University, Philadelphia, U.S.A.
authors.forename: Ana V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Diez Roux
authors.affiliation: Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brasil.
authors.forename: José Leopoldo Ferreira
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Antunes
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Flórinopolis, Brasil.
authors.forename: Marco Aurélio
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Peres
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001938:Brazil; D019352:Censuses; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D055361:Multilevel Analysis; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012649:Self Concept; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D055815:Young Adult