Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2009 May 28:9:162.
doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-9-162.

Perceived neighborhood safety and incident mobility disability among elders: the hazards of poverty

Affiliations

Perceived neighborhood safety and incident mobility disability among elders: the hazards of poverty

Cheryl R Clark et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: We investigated whether lack of perceived neighborhood safety due to crime, or living in high crime neighborhoods was associated with incident mobility disability in elderly populations. We hypothesized that low-income elders and elders at retirement age (65 - 74) would be at greatest risk of mobility disability onset in the face of perceived or measured crime-related safety hazards.

Methods: We conducted the study in the New Haven Established Populations for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly (EPESE), a longitudinal cohort study of community-dwelling elders aged 65 and older who were residents of New Haven, Connecticut in 1982. Elders were interviewed beginning in 1982 to assess mobility (ability to climb stairs and walk a half mile), perceptions of their neighborhood safety due to crime, annual household income, lifestyle characteristics (smoking, alcohol use, physical activity), and the presence of chronic co-morbid conditions. Additionally, we collected baseline data on neighborhood crime events from the New Haven Register newspaper in 1982 to measure local area crime rates at the census tract level.

Results: At baseline in 1982, 1,884 elders were without mobility disability. After 8 years of follow-up, perceiving safety hazards was associated with increased risk of mobility disability among elders at retirement age whose incomes were below the federal poverty line (HR 1.56, 95% CI 1.02 - 2.37). No effect of perceived safety hazards was found among elders at retirement age whose incomes were above the poverty line. No effect of living in neighborhoods with high crime rates (measured by newspaper reports) was found in any sub-group.

Conclusion: Perceiving a safety hazard due to neighborhood crime was associated with increased risk of incident mobility disability among impoverished elders near retirement age. Consistent with prior literature, retirement age appears to be a vulnerable period with respect to the effect of neighborhood conditions on elder health. Community violence prevention activities should address perceived safety among vulnerable populations, such as low-income elders at retirement age, to reduce future risks of mobility disability.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Percentage of residents who believe the neighborhood is unsafe due to crime. Displays percentage of New Haven EPESE participants who perceived their neighborhood was unsafe due to crime in 1982. Green overlay represents crime events per census tract in 1982. Neighborhoods are measured as individual census tracts. Census tracts are numbered 1401–1428. Tract 1401 = Central Business District. Source data: (1) New Haven Established Populations for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly (EPESE) 1982. (2) New Haven Register crime event reports for year 1982.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Correlates of living in the highest-crime neighborhoods.

Similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Public health and aging: trends in aging – United States and worldwide. MMWR. 2003;52:101–106. - PubMed
    1. Fried LP, Ferrucci L, Darer J, Williamson JD, Anderson G. Untangling the concepts of disability, frailty, and comorbidity: implications for improved targeting and care. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2004;59:255–263. - PubMed
    1. Guralnik JM, LaCroix AZ, Abbott RD, Berkman LF, Satterfield S, Evans DA, Wallace RB. Maintaining mobility in late life. I. Demographic characteristics and chronic conditions. Am J Epidemiol. 1993;137:845–857. - PubMed
    1. Fried LP, Guralnik JM. Disability in older adults: evidence regarding significance, etiology, and risk. J Am Geriatr Soc. 1997;45:92–100. - PubMed
    1. Guralnik JM, Ferrucci L, Simonsick EM, Salive ME, Wallace RB. Lower-extremity function in persons over the age of 70 years as a predictor of subsequent disability. N Engl J Med. 1995;332:556–561. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199503023320902. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types