Abstract

PINON GAMEZ, Aimeé  and  BARCELO PEREZ, Carlos. Health and urban settings: A gender study. Rev Cubana Med Gen Integr [online]. 2005, vol.21, n.3-4. ISSN 0864-2125.

Literature states that the environment influence on the health of the individuals living there. Different urban settings according to road engineering profiles, elements of the social situation and pathological history may influence on the health status. The annoyance caused y the environment reflected in the perception of noise and the stress perceived by the housewives living in neighborhoods selected in Havana City were an objective to be cleared up in order to know the relation among these settings, health and the well-being of these housewives. The method applied consisted in a combined cross-sectional descriptive and analytical study conducted in a sample of housewives aged 20-40, who do not work at present and live in the blocks selected as characteristic settings. A questionnaire of generalities, the perceived stress test (PSS) and the abbreviated health status test (SF-26) were used. The results show that the health status and the annoyance were linked to the urban setting of the neighborhood, but not the perceived stress. The self-perceived stress level  and the health status were not critical in general. It was considered that noise affected health, although the annoyance was not intense. Music, phonation and traffic were identified as the most relevant sources of noise.

Keywords : Urban settings; health status.