The Burden of Social Phobia in a Brazilian Community and its Relationship with Socioeconomic Circumstances, Health Status and Use of Health Services: The Bambui Study

C. M. R. Vorcaro, F. L. Rocha, E. Uchoa and M. F. Lima-Costa
Additional contact information
C. M. R. Vorcaro: Laboratory of Epidemiology and Medical Anthropology, Rene Rachou Research Center, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Belo Horizonte, Brazil and Medical Residency of Psychiatry, Institute of Social Security of the Civil Servants of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
F. L. Rocha: Medical Residency of Psychiatry, Institute of Social Security of the Civil Servants of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
E. Uchoa: Laboratory of Epidemiology and Medical Anthropology, Rene Rachou Research Center, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Belo Horizonte, Brazil and Department of Psychiatry and Neurology, Federal University of Minas Gerais School of Medicine, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
M. F. Lima-Costa: Laboratory of Epidemiology and Medical Anthropology, Rene Rachou Research Center, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Belo Horizonte, Brazil and Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Federal University of Minas Gerais School of Medicine, Belo Horizonte, Brazil, lima-costa@cpqrr

International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 2004, vol. 50, issue 3, 216-226

Abstract: Aims: Social phobia in the environment of poverty and major social inequalities, as observed in most developing countries, has received little attention. This population-based study was carried out in a poor community in Brazil (15,000 inhabitants), aiming at determining the prevalence of social phobia and its associated factors. Method: The Composite International Diagnostic Interview was applied in a random sample of 1037 residents aged 5 18 years. Results: The 1-month, 1-year and lifetime prevalence of social phobia were 7.9, 9.1 and 11.8%, respectively. One-month social phobia was independently associated with age (45-64 years), marital status (divorced/separated), worse socioeconomic indicators (family income and education), number of months worked, worse health status and use of health services and medications. Conclusion: There was an important burden of social phobia in the study community, due to its high prevalence (similar or superior to those observed in most developed countries), and due to its association with worse health status and use of health services and medications. The strong association between social phobia and socioeconomic circumstance, even in a small and poor community, is certainly a reflex of the major social inequalities in Brazil.

Keywords: social phobia; epidemiology; prevalence; sociodemographic; social inequality; Brazil (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2004
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0020764004043131 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:50:y:2004:i:3:p:216-226

DOI: 10.1177/0020764004043131

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in International Journal of Social Psychiatry
Bibliographic data for series maintained by SAGE Publications ().