title: Effects of proximate foreclosed properties on individuals' systolic blood pressure in Massachusetts, 1987 to 2008.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  No studies have examined the effects of local foreclosure activity on neighbors' blood pressure, despite the fact that spillover effects of nearby foreclosures include many known risk factors for increased blood pressure. We assessed the extent to which living near foreclosed properties is associated with subsequent systolic blood pressure (SBP) measurements.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We used 6590 geocoded observations collected from 1740 participants in the Framingham Offspring Cohort across 5 waves (1987-2008) of the Framingham Heart Study to create a longitudinal record of exposure to nearby foreclosure activity. We distinguished between real estate-owned foreclosures, which typically sit vacant, and foreclosures purchased by third-party buyers, which are generally put into productive use. Counts of lender-owned foreclosed properties within 100 m of participants' homes were used to predict measured SBP and odds of being hypertensive. We assessed whether self-reported alcoholic drinks per week and measured body mass index helped to explain the relationship between foreclosure activity and SBP. Each additional real estate-owned foreclosure located within 100 m of a participant's home was associated with an increase in SBP of 1.71 mm Hg (P=0.03; 95% confidence interval, 0.18-3.24) after adjustment for individual- and area-level confounders but not with odds of hypertension. The presence of foreclosures purchased by third-party buyers was not associated with SBP or with hypertension. Body mass index and alcohol consumption attenuated the effect of living near real estate-owned foreclosures on SBP in fully adjusted models.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Real estate-owned foreclosed properties may put nearby neighbors at risk for increased SBP, with higher alcohol consumption and body mass index partially mediating this relationship.
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard School of Public Health, Cambridge, MA (M.A., I.K., S.V.S.); Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California-San Francisco School of Medicine (M.M.G.); Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Boston, MA (P.C.); and Yale Institute for Network Science, Yale University, New Haven, CT (N.A.C.). marcaya@hsph.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Mariana
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arcaya
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard School of Public Health, Cambridge, MA (M.A., I.K., S.V.S.); Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California-San Francisco School of Medicine (M.M.G.); Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Boston, MA (P.C.); and Yale Institute for Network Science, Yale University, New Haven, CT (N.A.C.).
authors.forename: M Maria
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Glymour
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard School of Public Health, Cambridge, MA (M.A., I.K., S.V.S.); Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California-San Francisco School of Medicine (M.M.G.); Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Boston, MA (P.C.); and Yale Institute for Network Science, Yale University, New Haven, CT (N.A.C.).
authors.forename: Prabal
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chakrabarti
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard School of Public Health, Cambridge, MA (M.A., I.K., S.V.S.); Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California-San Francisco School of Medicine (M.M.G.); Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Boston, MA (P.C.); and Yale Institute for Network Science, Yale University, New Haven, CT (N.A.C.).
authors.forename: Nicholas A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Christakis
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard School of Public Health, Cambridge, MA (M.A., I.K., S.V.S.); Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California-San Francisco School of Medicine (M.M.G.); Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Boston, MA (P.C.); and Yale Institute for Network Science, Yale University, New Haven, CT (N.A.C.).
authors.forename: Ichiro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kawachi
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard School of Public Health, Cambridge, MA (M.A., I.K., S.V.S.); Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California-San Francisco School of Medicine (M.M.G.); Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Boston, MA (P.C.); and Yale Institute for Network Science, Yale University, New Haven, CT (N.A.C.).
authors.forename: S V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Subramanian
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D015994:Incidence; D016014:Linear Models; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008404:Massachusetts / Q000453:epidemiology; D010067:Ownership; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications*; D013599:Systole / Q000502:physiology
keywords: blood pressure; epidemiology; risk factors; stress