Author(s)

Luciana de Mendonça Freire¹, Tatiane Dalamaria^1,2, Margarida de Aquino Cunha^1,2, Orivaldo Florencio de Souza^1,2*

¹Center for Health Sciences and Sports, Federal University of Acre, Rio Branco, Brazil.
²Graduate Program in Public Health, Federal University of Acre, Rio Branco, Brazil.

The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and associated factors of unsatisfactory self-rated health in university students. A cross-sectional study was conducted in graduate students of a Public University in the city of Rio Branco in the Western Brazilian Amazon. The overall prevalence of unsatisfactory self-rated health was 23.0%. After adjusting for gender and age, the factors associated with unsatisfactory self-rated health were as follows: sedentarism during leisure time (prevalence ratio (PR): 2.26; 95% CI: 1.56 - 3.29), consuming meals only in restaurants (PR: 1.48; 95% CI: 1.14 - 1.94), insomnia (PR: 1.86; 95% CI: 1.50 - 2.30), headaches (PR: 2.17; 95% CI: 1.52 - 3.09), and back pain (PR: 2.03; 95% CI: 1.58 - 2.60). Thus, a high prevalence of unsatisfactory self-rated health was identified in this group of university students. The findings suggest immediate implementation of programs to promote healthy behaviors and to prevent headaches, back pain and insomnia.

Self-Rated Health, Epidemiological Factors, Students, Cross-Sectional Studies

de Mendonça Freire, L. , Dalamaria, T. , de Aquino Cunha, M. and de Souza, O. (2014) Self-Rated Health in University Students from Rio Branco in the Western Brazilian Amazon. Health, 6, 2245-2249. doi: 10.4236/health.2014.616260.