Perception of stress and its association with socioeconomic, behavioral and clinical characteristics of woman, Vitória, 2022: a cross-sectional study.

Objective: To verify the perception of stress among women living in Vitória, Espírito Santo, and its association with socioeconomic, behavioral and clinical characteristics.

Methods: Cross-sectional, population-based study with 1,086 women aged 18 or over, living in Vitória, Espírito Santo. Perceived stress levels were assessed using the Perceived Stress Scale tool and descriptive and multivariate analyses were performed using simple and multiple linear regression. Stata, version 17.0, was used.

Results: The average perception of stress among women living in Vitória was 16.4 with standard deviation of 7.5. Women aged 60 or over presented, on average, 6.0 points less stress perception compared to younger women (18 to 24 years old). The group belonging to the first quartile of family income presented, on average, 1.4 point more stress, and those receiving government financial assistance showed 1.9 more point of stress. Women without religion had, on average, 1.2 more point of stress. Higher stress levels were found among those who did not practice physical activity, smokers and those with multimorbidity (p-value>0.050).

Conclusion: There is a significant association between the perception of stress and socioeconomic, behavioral and clinical characteristics among women in Vitória.