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
. 2016 Sep;3(3):444-56.
doi: 10.1007/s40615-015-0157-0. Epub 2015 Sep 28.

Neighborhood Disadvantage and Cumulative Biological Risk Among a Socioeconomically Diverse Sample of African American Adults: An Examination in the Jackson Heart Study

Sharrelle Barber  1   2 , DeMarc A Hickson  3   4 , Ichiro Kawachi  5 , S V Subramanian  5 , Felton Earls  5
Affiliations

Neighborhood Disadvantage and Cumulative Biological Risk Among a Socioeconomically Diverse Sample of African American Adults: An Examination in the Jackson Heart Study

Sharrelle Barber et al. J Racial Ethn Health Disparities. 2016 Sep.

Abstract

Objectives: Neighborhoods characterized by disadvantage influence multiple risk factors for chronic disease and are considered potential drivers of racial and ethnic health inequities in the USA. The objective of the present study was to examine the relationship between neighborhood disadvantage and cumulative biological risk (CBR) and the extent to which the association differs by individual income and education among a large, socioeconomically diverse sample of African American adults.

Methods: Data from the baseline examination of the Jackson Heart Study (2000-2004) were used for the analyses. The sample consisted of African American adults ages 21-85 with complete, geocoded data on CBR biomarkers and behavioral covariates (n = 4410). Neighborhood disadvantage was measured using a composite score of socioeconomic indicators from the 2000 US Census. Eight biomarkers representing cardiovascular, metabolic, inflammatory, and neuroendocrine systems were used to create a CBR score. We fit two-level linear regression models with random intercepts and included cross-level interaction terms between neighborhood disadvantage and individual socioeconomic status (SES).

Results: Living in a disadvantaged neighborhood was associated with greater CBR after covariate adjustment (B = 0.18, standard error (SE) 0.07, p < 0.05). Interactions showed a weaker association for individuals with ≤high school education but were not statistically significant.

Conclusion: Disadvantaged neighborhoods contribute to poor health among African American adults via cumulative biological risk. Policies directly addressing the socioeconomic conditions of these environments should be considered as viable options to reduce disease risk in this group and mitigate racial/ethnic health inequities.

Keywords: African Americans; Cumulative biological risk; Health disparities; Neighborhood disadvantage.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Dr. Barber, Dr. Hickson, Dr. Kawachi, Dr. Subramanian and Dr. Earls declare that we have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Unadjusted mean cumulative biological risk scores by neighborhood disadvantage and SES in the JHS 2000-2004
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Diez-Roux AV, Merkin SS, Arnett D, Chambless L, Massing M, Nieto FJ, et al. Neighborhood of residence and incidence of coronary heart disease. N Engl J Med. 2001;345(2):99–106. - PubMed
    1. Kawachi I, Subramanian SV. Neighbourhood influences on health. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2007;61(1):3–4. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Krieger N, Chen JT, Waterman PD, Soobader MJ, Subramanian SV, Carson R. Geocoding and monitoring of US socioeconomic inequalities in mortality and cancer incidence: does the choice of area-based measure and geographic level matter?: the Public Health Disparities Geocoding Project. Am J Epidemiol. 2002;156(5):471–82. - PubMed
    1. Leal C, Chaix B. The influence of geographic life environments on cardiometabolic risk factors: a systematic review, a methodological assessment and a research agenda. Obes Rev. 2011;12(3):217–30. - PubMed
    1. Pickett KE, Pearl M. Multilevel analyses of neighbourhood socioeconomic context and health outcomes: a critical review. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2001;55(2):111–22. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources