%0 Journal Article %J J Aging Health %D 2010 %T Urban neighborhood context and mortality in late life. %A Richard G Wight %A Janet R. Cummings %A Arun S Karlamangla %A Carol S Aneshensel %K Age Factors %K Aged %K Aging %K Cognition %K Confidence Intervals %K depression %K Female %K Health Status %K Humans %K Los Angeles %K Male %K Middle Aged %K Mortality %K Odds Ratio %K Poverty %K Psychometrics %K Residence Characteristics %K Self Report %K Socioeconomic factors %K Statistics as Topic %K Urban Population %X

OBJECTIVE: To examine the contextual effects of urban neighborhood characteristics on mortality among older adults.

METHOD: Data are from the Study of Assets and Health Dynamics Among the Oldest Old (AHEAD). Death is assessed between the baseline assessment (1993) and the first follow-up interview (1995). Neighborhood data are from the 1990 Census.

RESULTS: The log odds of dying between the two time points are higher in high proportion Hispanic neighborhoods, net of individual-level sociodemographic variables, but this effect is partly mediated by individual-level health. The log odds of dying are significantly (p < .05) lower in affluent neighborhoods, controlling for all individual-level variables and neighborhood proportion Hispanic.

DISCUSSION: There are survival-related benefits of living in an affluent urban neighborhood, which we posit may be manifested through the diffusion of innovations in health care and health-promotion activities.

%B J Aging Health %I 22 %V 22 %P 197-218 %8 2010 Mar %G eng %N 2 %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20056813?dopt=Abstract %2 PMC3155256 %4 Neighborhoods/Mortality Rates/Hispanic Americans/Dying/Elderly/Health/mortality/affluence/social work theory %$ 21980 %R 10.1177/0898264309355980 %0 Journal Article %J J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci %D 2009 %T Urban neighborhood context and change in depressive symptoms in late life. %A Richard G Wight %A Janet R. Cummings %A Arun S Karlamangla %A Carol S Aneshensel %K Aged %K Aged, 80 and over %K Aging %K Cultural Diversity %K depression %K Disability Evaluation %K Educational Status %K Female %K Humans %K Longitudinal Studies %K Los Angeles %K Male %K Personality Inventory %K Poverty %K Psychosocial Deprivation %K Residence Characteristics %K Risk Factors %K Urban Population %X

OBJECTIVES: This study examines associations between urban neighborhood sociodemographic characteristics and change over time in late-life depressive symptoms.

METHODS: Survey data are from three waves (1993, 1995, and 1998) of the Study of Assets and Health Dynamics Among the Oldest Old, a U.S. national probability sample of noninstitutionalized persons aged 70 years or older in 1993. Neighborhoods are 1990 U.S. Census tracts. Hierarchical linear regression is used to estimate multilevel models.

RESULTS: The average change over time in depressive symptoms varies significantly across urban neighborhoods. Change in depressive symptoms is significantly associated with neighborhood-level socioeconomic disadvantage and ethnic composition in unadjusted models but not in models that control for individual-level characteristics.

CONCLUSIONS: Findings indicate that apparent neighborhood-level effects on change in depressive symptoms over time among urban-dwelling older adults reflect, for the most part, differences in characteristics of the neighborhood residents.

%B J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci %I 64B %V 64 %P 247-51 %8 2009 Mar %G eng %N 2 %L newpubs20090908/Wightetal.pdf %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19181693?dopt=Abstract %2 PMC2655167 %4 Depressive Symptoms/Neighborhood Characteristics %$ 20350 %R 10.1093/geronb/gbn016 %0 Journal Article %J Soc Sci Med %D 2008 %T A multilevel analysis of urban neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage and health in late life. %A Richard G Wight %A Janet R. Cummings %A Miller-Martinez, Dana %A Arun S Karlamangla %A Teresa Seeman %A Carol S Aneshensel %K Aged %K Female %K Health Behavior %K Health Status Disparities %K Humans %K Male %K Poverty %K Small-Area Analysis %K Socioeconomic factors %K United States %K Urban Population %X

The associations between neighborhood context and various indicators of health are receiving growing empirical attention, but much of this research is regionally circumscribed or assumes similar effects across the life course. This study utilizes a U.S. national sample to investigate the association between urban neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage and health specifically among older adults. Data are from 3442 participants aged 70 years and older in the 1993 Asset and Health Dynamics Among the Oldest Old (AHEAD) Study, and the 1990 U.S. Census. Our approach underscores the importance of multiple dimensions of health (self-reported physician-diagnosed cardiovascular disease [CVD], functional status, and self-rated health) as well as multiple dimensions of neighborhood disadvantage, which are conceptualized as environmental hazards that may lead to a physiologically consequential stress response. We find that individual-level factors attenuate the association between neighborhood disadvantage and both CVD and functional status, but not self-rated health. Net of covariates, high neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage is significantly associated with reporting poor health. In late life, neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage is more consequential to subjective appraisals of health than diagnosed CVD or functional limitations.

%B Soc Sci Med %I 66 %V 66 %P 862-72 %8 2008 Feb %G eng %N 4 %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18160194?dopt=Abstract %2 PMC3681874 %4 Urban Population/socioeconomic status/HEALTH %$ 18470 %R 10.1016/j.socscimed.2007.11.002 %0 Journal Article %J Am J Epidemiol %D 2006 %T Urban neighborhood context, educational attainment, and cognitive function among older adults. %A Richard G Wight %A Carol S Aneshensel %A Miller-Martinez, Dana %A Amanda L. Botticello %A Janet R. Cummings %A Arun S Karlamangla %A Teresa Seeman %K Aged %K Aged, 80 and over %K Chi-Square Distribution %K Cognition Disorders %K Educational Status %K Female %K Humans %K Linear Models %K Male %K Residence Characteristics %K Risk Factors %K Socioeconomic factors %K United States %K Urban Population %X

Existing research has not addressed the potential impact of neighborhood context--educational attainment of neighbors in particular--on individual-level cognition among older adults. Using hierarchical linear modeling, the authors analyzed data from the 1993 Study of Assets and Health Dynamics Among the Oldest Old (AHEAD), a large, nationally representative sample of US adults born before 1924. Data from participants residing in urban neighborhoods (n = 3,442) were linked with 1990 US Census tract data. Findings indicate that 1) average cognitive function varies significantly across US Census tracts; 2) older adults living in low-education areas fare less well cognitively than those living in high-education areas, net of individual characteristics, including their own education; 3) this association is sustained when controlling for contextual-level median household income; and 4) the effect of individual-level educational attainment differs across neighborhoods of varying educational profiles. Promoting educational attainment among the general population living in disadvantaged neighborhoods may prove cognitively beneficial to its aging residents because it may lead to meliorations in stressful life conditions and coping deficiencies.

%B Am J Epidemiol %I 163 %V 163 %P 1071-8 %8 2006 Jun 15 %G eng %N 12 %L pubs_2006_WightAJE.pdf %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16707655?dopt=Abstract %4 Cognition/EDUCATION/Socioeconomic Factors %$ 16570 %R 10.1093/aje/kwj176