Experience of violation during the past 3 months, social capital, and self-rated health: a population-based study.

OBJECTIVE: The objective was to investigate the association between experience of violation during the past 3 months and self-rated health, taking trust (social capital), economic stress, and country of birth and parents' country of birth into account.

DESIGN/SETTING/PARTICIPANTS/MEASUREMENTS: The 2008 public health survey in Skåne is a cross-sectional study with 55% response rate. A random sample was approached using a postal questionnaire, and 28,198 persons aged 18-80 responded. Logistic regression models investigated associations between experience of violation during the past 3 months and self-rated health.

RESULTS: A 27.4% proportion of the men and 30.0% of the women reported less than good health. Less than good health was significantly higher in older age groups, among persons born outside Sweden, with low education, economic stress, low trust in other people, and experience of violation during the past 3 months. The group with experience of violation at one occasion during the past 3 months had odds ratio 1.76 (95% CI 1.57-1.97) of less than good health among men and odds ratio 1.78 (95% CI 1.62-1.96) among women, while the group with experience of violation two or more times during the past 3 months had odds ratio 4.28 (95% CI 3.36-5.44) among men and 3.54 (95% CI 2.89-4.35) among women in the final multiple analyses.

CONCLUSIONS: Experience of violation during the past 3 months is significantly associated with less than good health, which is a finding with important policy implications.