Excess mortality among urban residents: how much, for whom, and why?
OBJECTIVE
The goals of this study were to estimate prospective mortality risks of city residence, specify how these risks vary by population subgroup, and explore possible explanations.


METHODS
Data were derived from a probability sample of 3617 adults in the coterminous United States and analyzed via cross-tabular and Cox proportional hazards methods.


RESULTS
After adjustment for baseline sociodemographic and health variables, city residents had a mortality hazard rate ratio of 1.62 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.21, 2.18) relative to rural/small-town residents; suburbanites had an intermediate but not significantly elevated hazard rate ratio. This urban mortality risk was significant among men (hazard rate ratio: 2.25), especially non-Black men, but not among women. Among Black men, and to some degree Black women, suburban residence carried the greatest risk. All risks were most evident for those younger than 65 years.


CONCLUSIONS
The mortality risk of city residence, at least among men, rivals that of major psychosocial risk factors such as race, low income, smoking, and social isolation and merits comparable attention in research and policy.
House
J S
JS
Survey Research Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48106-1248, USA. jimhouse@isr.umich.edu
Lepkowski
J M
JM
Williams
D R
DR
Mero
R P
RP
Lantz
P M
PM
Robert
S A
SA
Chen
J
J
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000368:Aged; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006304:Health Status; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status; D008875:Middle Aged; D009026:Mortality; D011159:Population Surveillance; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012423:Rural Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D018881:Suburban Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014504:Urban Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data