Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #104598

Ying-Chih Chuang, PhD, Graduate Institute of Public Health, Taipei Medical University, 250 Wu-Hsing St., Taipei, 110, Taiwan, 886-2-27361661 ext 6527, yingchih@tmu.edu.tw, Catherine Cubbin, PhD, Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, 500 Parnassus Avenue, MU-3 East, Box 0900, San Francisco, CA 94143-0900, and Marilyn A. Winkleby, PhD, MPH, Stanford Prevention Research Center, Stanford School of Medicine, 211 Quarry Road, Room 229, Stanford, CA 94305-5705.

Living in a socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhood has been associated with lower health status than living in an advantaged neighborhood, independent of individual-level characteristics. We hypothesize that socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods are associated with poorer health in part because of lower density of community organizations (e.g., churches, youth clubs) and a lower level of participation in community organizations. Density of and participation in community organizations may influence health status as a result of social support, information exchange, and establishment of health-related community norms. Individual-level sociodemographic characteristics, participation in community organizations, and health status (measured by mortality and work loss days), are from the Stanford Heart Disease Prevention Program. This study includes 4,790 women and men, aged 25-74, who lived in 82 neighborhoods between 1979-1990 (defined using a combination of census tracts and block-groups) in four northern California cities. By 2002, 735 (15%) of the 4,790 participants had died. Participants' survey data were linked with U.S. census data (1980 and 1990) to determine neighborhood characteristics (e.g., poverty concentration) and with historical data to determine density of community organizations. Analyses will be conducted using multi-level regression models for work loss days and Cox proportional hazards models for mortality. Results will show whether density of community organizations and level of individual participation serve as pathways (mediators) between neighborhood socioeconomic status and individual health status, above and beyond individual sociodemographic characteristics. The study's findings will inform policies and interventions directed at improving health status among persons living in socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods.

Learning Objectives:

• (1)Assess the effects of community organization density and/or participation on individual health status
• (2)Assess whether community organization density and/or participation are mediators between neighborhood socioeconomic status and individual health status

Keywords: Mortality, Community Participation

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.