 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Maria Guadalupe Vega-Lopez, PhD, Guillermo J. Gonzalez-Perez, PhD, Armando Muñoz de la Torre, MPH, Carlos Cabrera-Pivaral, PhD, Ana Valle-Barbosa, MPH, and Samuel Romero-Valle, MPH. Center for Health, Population and Human Development Studies, University of Guadalajara, Mexico, Modena 1134. Colonia Providencia. Sector Hidalgo, Guadalajara, Jalisco, 44630, Mexico, 52(33)36411119, ggonzal@cencar.udg.mx
In recent years, Mexico has presented high homicide rates, specially among adolescent. The adolescent homicide rate varies notably among the Mexican states, aspect this that has scarcely been investigated. This study seeks to identify the socioeconomic variables that better explain the differences in homicide rates for states in 2000 for the age groups 10-14 and 15-19. The basic information has been obtained from official sources. For each state triennial homicide rates, centered in 2000, were calculated; rates were adjusted by age, using as standard the population structure from Mexico in 1995; through the use of the multiple regression analysis (stepwise method) the variables that better explained the inter-state variations in the homicide rates were identified. The variables included in the regression equation for the age group 10-14 were "percentage of dwellings with earth floor” (partial r2 0.1466, p=0.03352) and "destroyed hectares of marijuana and opiate per 1,000 inhabitants" (partial r2 0.1517, p=0.0303); for the age group 15-19 the variable included in the regression equation was "destroyed hectares of marijuana and opiate per 1,000 inhabitants" ( r2 0.3667, p=0.00024). The found regression equations explain 26% and 37% (respectively) of the inter-state variation of the adolescent homicide rates. The results show that poverty and drug traffic are key elements to understand the spatial variations of the adolescent homicide mortality in Mexico and demonstrate the necessity to act in a coordinated, interdisciplinary and intersectorial way to implement policies and programs guided to reduces the homicide rate among teenager and the observed inter-state differences.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Homicide, Youth Violence
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.