Effects of neighbourhood socioeconomic status and convenience store concentration on individual level smoking.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the effects of neighbourhood level socioeconomic status (SES) and convenience store concentration on individual level smoking, after consideration of individual level characteristics.


METHODS
Individual sociodemographic characteristics and smoking were obtained from five cross sectional surveys (1979-1990). Participants' addresses were geocoded and linked with census data for measuring neighbourhood SES and with telephone yellow page listings for measuring convenience store concentration (density in a neighbourhood, distance between a participant's home and the nearest convenience store, and number of convenience stores within a one mile radius of a participant's home). The data were analysed with multilevel Poisson regression models.


METHODS
82 neighbourhoods in four northern California cities.


METHODS
8121 women and men aged 25-74 from the Stanford heart disease prevention programme.


RESULTS
Lower neighbourhood SES and higher convenience store concentration, measured by density and distance, were both significantly associated with higher level of individual smoking after taking individual characteristics into account. The association between convenience store density and individual smoking was modified by individual SES and neighbourhood SES.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings are consistent with a growing body of literature suggesting that the socioeconomic and physical environments of neighbourhoods are associated with individual level smoking.
Chuang
Ying-Chih
YC
Graduate Institute of Public Health, Taipei Medical University, 250 Wu-Hsing Street, Taipei, Taiwan. yingchih@tmu.edu.tw
Cubbin
Catherine
C
Ahn
David
D
Winkleby
Marilyn A
MA
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002140:California / Q000453:epidemiology; D003132:Commerce / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016012:Poisson Distribution; D011204:Poverty Areas; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012923:Social Class; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors