title: Perceived Neighborhood Social Cohesion and Preventive Healthcare Use.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Neighborhood social cohesion has been linked with better health and health behaviors, but its association with patterns of preventive healthcare use remains understudied. The hypothesis was that people with higher perceived neighborhood social cohesion would display increased use of preventive healthcare services.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants (N=7,168) were drawn from the 2006 wave of the Health and Retirement Study-a prospective and nationally representative panel study of American adults aged >50 years-and tracked for one wave (2 years). Analyses were conducted in 2016.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After adjusting for sociodemographic factors and baseline health, each SD increase in neighborhood social cohesion was associated with a higher likelihood that people would obtain influenza vaccinations (OR=1.09, 95% CI=1.04, 1.15) or cholesterol tests (OR=1.10, 95% CI=1.02, 1.19). Further, women were more likely to receive mammograms/x-rays (OR=1.10, 95% CI=1.01, 1.19) or Pap tests (OR=1.08, 95% CI=1.00, 1.17). However, men were not more likely to receive prostate exams (OR=1.06, 95% CI=0.96, 1.17).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  With additional research, findings from this study may inform the development of new strategies that increase the use of preventive healthcare services and enhance the quality of life among people moving through the ranks of this aging society.
authors.affiliation: Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts. Electronic address: eskim@hsph.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Eric S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Ichiro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kawachi
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000517:prevention & control; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000517:prevention & control; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008327:Mammography / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D010465:Perception; D011314:Preventive Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000517:prevention & control; D011788:Quality of Life; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012737:Sex Factors; D014481:United States; D014611:Vaccination / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
chemical_list: D002784:Cholesterol