Desordem do espaço urbano e o consumo de álcool entre adolescentes

Abstract

Currently, more people live in urban areas than in rural areas, as a result of intense urbanization that has often occurred without adequate planning. In this context, urban disorder appears as a determinant of health in urban environments, and it is important to understand its visual aspects and the possible impacts on the health of the population, especially in the lives of adolescents. Thus, the study aimed to investigate the association between urban space disorder and alcohol consumption among Brazilian adolescents. The study followed a cross- sectional design, based on data from the Study of Cardiovascular Risks in Adolescents, carried out between 2013 and 2014. The sample consisted of 2.384 adolescents residing in the capitals Fortaleza, Porto Alegre and Rio de Janeiro, who were selected by the availability of georeferenced data. For the purposes of this study, the outcome variable was defined by the consumption of alcoholic beverages, evaluated through the following question: “In the last 30 days (one month), on how many days did you have at least one glass or one dose of alcoholic beverage?”. The disorder of urban space, as exposure variable, was evaluated through the urban characteristics of the 2010 Demographic Census, known as: number of households with public lighting, paving, afforestation in public places, manhole/wolf mouth, garbage accumulated in public roads, open sewers, curbs/curbs, sidewalk and wheelchair ramp. From the contextual variables of exposure, measured at the level of the census sectors, indicators of the surroundings were constructed with the purpose of estimating the effects for each individual. To obtain these indicators, circular buffers (areas) were defined, considering radii of 100 and 250 meters, taking as a central point the residences of adolescents in the selected capitals. The value of each indicator was obtained as a weighted average of the proportion of households that meet a given characteristic, whose weights are proportional to the area of intersection of each census sector with the buffer. Prevalence ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated using Poisson regression models with robust variance, adjusted for confounding factors. The results showed associations between adolescents living in places with sidewalks [PR = 1.24 (CI 95% = 1.02 - 1.50)], manhole [PR = 1.36 (CI 95% = 1.01 - 1 .84)], ramp [RP = 0.79 (CI 95% = 0.62 - 0.99)] or sewage [RP = 0.8 (CI 95% = 0.66 - 0.97)] and the alcohol consumption. Surprisingly, the findings suggest that the presence of desirable characteristics in the surroundings of adolescents' homes may or may not contribute to alcohol consumption, while undesirable characteristics may contribute as protective factors for alcohol consumption among Brazilian adolescents. Alcohol consumption among adolescents demands attention in the public health scenario, and investment in studies aimed at knowledge about contextual factors, and their possible relationships with consumption, can be an important strategy for a broader understanding of the current scenario of adolescent health in urban environments.