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Published on: July 29, 2020
Health inequalities in Brazilian adolescents: Measuring and mapping gaps in a cross-sectional school-based survey
Andrea Wendt1, Adriana K F Machado2, Caroline S Costa2
1Graduate Program in Health Technology Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná, Graduate Curitiba Brazil.
Background And Aims:
This study aims to describe inequalities in health indicators according to gender, area of residence, and socioeconomic position among Brazilian adolescents.
Methods:
Cross-sectional study using data from a school-based survey carried out in Brazil in 2019. Twelve health outcomes were evaluated. Dimensions of inequality assessed were gender, area of residence, wealth and subnational region.
Results:
This study comprises a sample of 124,898 adolescents. The most prevalent outcome was physical inactivity (71.9%) followed by thinking life is worthless (52.6%) and bullying (51.8%). Gender inequalities were more marked for physical inactivity and thinking life is worthless with girls presenting a prevalence more than 20 p.p. higher than boys. In zero-dose HPV, however, the prevalence in girls was 17.7 p.p. lower than in boys. Area of residence and wealth inequalities were smaller than gender disparities. Context presented a relevant role in inequality with analysis stratified by states of the country, revealing high variability in estimates.
Conclusions:
We highlight the need for attention to disparities between subgroups of the adolescent population, especially for gender inequalities that were the most marked for this age group.
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