[Social inequality and homicide rates in Sao Paulo City, Brazil].

OBJECTIVE The relation between income and mortality due to violence has been studied in recent years. The Synthesis of Social Indicators of 2002 [Sintese de Indicadores Sociais, 2002], published by The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), states that one of the most outstanding characteristic of Brazilian society is inequality. The proposal of this ecological study was to test the association between homicide rates, and some health and socioeconomic indicators. METHODS This is an ecological cross-sectional study. Data regarding Sao Paulo City, Brazil in the year 2000 was analyzed. The association between homicide coefficients and the following five indicators were tested: infant mortality rates, monthly average income of household heads, percentage of adolescents aged 15 to 17 years not attending school, proportion of pregnant adolescent women aged 14 to 17 years and demographic density. Pearson's correlation coefficient and a multiple linear regression model were utilized to test these associations. RESULTS The municipal homicide rate was 57.3/100,000. The correlation between homicide rates and average monthly income was strong and negative (r=-0.65). Higher homicide rates were found in the districts whose inhabitants had lower incomes and lower rates were found in those districts whose inhabitants had higher incomes. The correlation between homicide rates and proportion of adolescents not attending school was positive and strong (r=0.68). The correlation between homicide rates and the proportion of pregnant adolescent women was positive and strong (r=0.67). The correlation between homicides and the rate of infant mortality was r=0.24 (for all: p<0.05). The correlation between demographic density and homicides was not significant. Although the univariate regression was positive for four indicators, the multivariate regression test was only significant for average monthly income (negative) and proportion of adolescents not attending school (positive) (for both indicators: p<0.01). CONCLUSIONS The findings highlight the problem of homicides and socioeconomic disparities in S. Paulo City. Economic development and reducing socioeconomic inequality may have an impact on the rates of mortality due to violence.