Exposure to Community and Family violence and self-rated health in the Brazilian population.

INTRODUCTION

The isolated negative impacts of community violence and family violence on individuals' self-rated health (SRH) are known, but there is little evidence on the combined effect of these two types of interpersonal violence.

OBJECTIVE

To analyze the association between exposure to community violence/by strangers and family violence/by acquaintances and negative SRH, distinguishing the type of violence suffered and also considering its cumulative exposure.

METHODS

Epidemiological cross-sectional study developed with data from the National Health Survey (PNS) 2013. Crude multinominal logistic regression models were performed and adjusted to test the association of variables.

RESULTS

All types of violence analyzed were associated with negative SRH. Isolated community/unknown interpersonal violence was associated with SRH as regular (odds ratio - OR = 1.38) and bad (OR = 1.79). Exposure to family violence/by acquaintances was associated with regular (OR = 1.52) and bad (OR = 2.70) self-assessment. Concomitant exposure to the two types of violence was associated with regular (OR = 4.00) and bad (OR = 7.81) health assessments, with this association being of greater magnitude than those for isolated violence.

CONCLUSION

The cumulative effect of exposure to family/known and community/unknown violence enhances the negative assessment of health status. Health professionals must be aware of the multivitaminization and its impact on the health of victims who access health services.