[Individual social factors and their association with environmental socioeconomic factors--a descriptive small-area analysis in the city of Dortmund].
Apart from individual resources and individual risk factors, environmental socioeconomic factors are determinants of individual health and illness. The aim of this investigation was to evaluate the association of small-area environmental socioeconomic parameters (proportion of 14-year-old and younger population, proportion of married citizens, proportion of unemployed, and the number of private cars per inhabitant) with individual socioeconomic parameters (education, income, unemployment, social class and the country of origin) in Dortmund, a major city in Germany. After splitting the small-area environmental socioeconomic parameters of 62 statistical administration units into quintiles, differences in the distribution of individual social parameters were evaluated using adjusted tests for trend. Overall, 1,312 study participants (mean age 53.6 years, 52.9% women) were included. Independently of age and gender, individual social parameters were unequally distributed across areas with different small-area environmental socioeconomic parameters. A place of birth abroad and social class were significantly associated with all small-area environmental socioeconomic parameters. If the impact of environmental socioeconomic parameters on individual health or illness is determined, the unequal small-area distribution of individual social parameters should be considered.
Neuner
B
B
Institut für Epidemiologie und Sozialmedizin, Universitätsklinikum Münster, Münster. neuner@uni-muenster.de
Berger
K
K
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009313:National Health Programs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017062:Small-Area Analysis; D012923:Social Class; D012931:Social Environment; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014504:Urban Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult