title: Self-assessed health status and neighborhood context.
abstract: In recent years, there has been growing interest in the relationship between the characteristics of neighborhoods and the health and well-being of residents. The focus on neighborhood as a health determinant is based on the hypothesis that residing in a disadvantaged neighborhood can negatively influence health outcomes beyond the effect of individual characteristics. In this article, we examine three possible ways of measuring neighborhood socio-economic status, and how they each impact on self-reported health status beyond the effect contributed by individual-level factors. Using individual-level data from the Household Income and Labor Dynamics Australia survey combined with neighborhood-level (suburb) data, we tested the proposition that how one measures neighborhood socio-economic characteristics may provide an important new insight into understanding the links between individual-level outcomes and neighborhood-level characteristics. The findings from the analysis illustrate that although individual-level factors may be important to understanding health outcomes, how one accounts for neighborhood-level socio-economic status may be equally important. The findings suggest that in developing place-based health programs, policy makers need to account for the complex interactions between individual drivers and the potential complexities of accounting for neighborhood socio-economic status.
authors.affiliation: a Cities Research Centre, Griffith University , Nathan , Queensland , Australia.
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Baum
authors.affiliation: b Menzies Health Institute Queensland , Griffith University , Meadowbrook , Queensland , Australia.
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kendall
authors.affiliation: b Menzies Health Institute Queensland , Griffith University , Meadowbrook , Queensland , Australia.
authors.forename: Sanjoti
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Parekh
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001315:Australia; D015992:Body Mass Index; D004522:Educational Status; D004651:Employment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012107:Research Design; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D057566:Self Report; D012737:Sex Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Neighborhood context; place-based health policy; self-reported health; socio-economic status