Does the relationship between neighborhood socioeconomic status and health outcomes persist into very old age? A population-based study.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this article is (a) to extend previous research on the relationship between neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES) and health by considering a wide range of health-related measures derived from administrative health care records and (b) to explore whether this relationship persists into old age.


METHODS
The study involved a complete cohort of community-dwelling residents in Winnipeg, Canada, who were 65 years or older in 2004/2005 (N = 77,930). Health measures were derived from administrative claims data. Census data were used to derive neighborhood-level SES.


RESULTS
Multilevel logistic regressions indicated that, relative to individuals living in the most affluent areas, those in the poorest areas had significantly higher odds of having arthritis, diabetes, hypertension, congestive heart failure, ischemic heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, depression, and stroke. Significant neighborhood income effects tended to be evident among individuals age 65 to 75 as well as those age 75+.


CONCLUSIONS
A wide range of health conditions among older adults are disproportionately clustered into the poorest areas. Programs and services should be designed to meet the needs of older adults of any age in such neighborhoods.
Menec
Verena H
VH
Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. menec@cc.umanitoba.ca
Shooshtari
Shahin
S
Nowicki
Scott
S
Fournier
Shari
S
D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008350:Manitoba; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012923:Social Class