Abstract
To present trends found in the last three editions of the National Adolescent Student Health Survey (Pesquisa Nacional de Saúde do Escolar - PeNSE) on violent situations experienced by Brazilian students. Time-series study with a focus on the Brazilian state capitals, using PeNSE databases of 2009, 2012, and 2015. The indicators evaluated were: missing classes due to insecurity in the home-school route or at school; involvement in a fight with firearm or melee weapon; and physical assault by an adult of the family. We estimated the prevalence of indicators according to the total number of adolescents, gender, school type, and capital. Trends in prevalence were estimated by linear regression, adjusted for age. We identified a trend in increasing prevalence, with statistical significance, for all selected violence indicators in the period from 2009 to 2015, in Brazilian state capitals. The most vulnerable groups were public schools students; male adolescents for involvement in fights with melee weapons or firearms; and female adolescents for physical assault by family members. PeNSE contributed to identifying the increase in the prevalence of violence experienced by adolescents, which alerts to the need of planning and implementing policies that help to prevent violence, and promote health and a culture of peace.
Highlights
Adolescence is a stage of life in which physical, sexual, cognitive, and emotional changes are prominent, and that establishes behavior patterns of future adults[1,2]
The last sample (2015), in addition to the previous information, brings results for ninth grade students according to states and the Federal District. It included a national sub-sample to represent students based on age (13, 14, 15, 16, and 17 years), allowing a more accurate comparison with data from international researches, such as the indicators created by World Health Organization (WHO), which encompass more than 100 countries, in the transnational study Global School-based Student Health Survey (GSHS)
The prevalence of adolescents who missed classes due to insecurity at school increased from 5.5% in 2009 to 9.3% in 2015, and the annual mean change was higher among public school students (0.9 p.p.) (Table 1)
Summary
Adolescence is a stage of life in which physical, sexual, cognitive, and emotional changes are prominent, and that establishes behavior patterns of future adults[1,2] In this period, individuals experiment with new practices and behaviors to gain more autonomy, which can lead to exposure to risk situations related to violence and accidents[3]. In 2014, a study on mortality profile showed that, in the population aged 5 to 14 years, land transport accidents (LTA) topped the list of causes of death, followed by homicides, for both males and females[4]. In the age group of 15 to 29 years, the main cause of death among males was homicide (29,830), followed by LTA (12,005); among females, the main cause was LTA (2,148), followed by homicides (1,968)[4]. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), for each homicide of a young person, there are around 20 to 40 non-fatal victims of youth violence receiving hospital treatment[5], revealing substantial burden of consequences on health systems[6]
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Schedule a callMore From: Revista brasileira de epidemiologia = Brazilian journal of epidemiology
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