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

Abstract #118500

Shannon N. Zenk, PhD¹, Amy J. Schulz, PhD², James S. House, PhD³, Graciela Mentz, PhD⁴, James Lepkowski, PhD⁵, Chris M. Coombe, MPH², William J. Ridella, MPH, MBA⁶, and Srimathi Kannan, PhD⁷. (1) Program in Cancer Control and Population Science, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1747 W Roosevelt Rd, MC 275, Chicago, IL 60608, 312-355-2790, szenk@uic.edu, (2) Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, University of Michigan, School of Public Health, 1420 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, (3) Department of Sociology, University of Michigan, Institute for Social Research, Survey Research Center, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, (4) Health Behavior Health Education, University of Michigan, School of Public Health, 2029 SPH II, 1420 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, (5) Survey Research Center, University of Michigan, Institute for Social Research, 426 Thompson St., Ann Arbor, MI 48104, (6) Community Heath Services, Detroit Health Department, 1151 Taylor St, Rm 308C, Detroit, MI 48202, (7) Department of Environmental Health Sciences, University of Michigan School of Public Health Human Nutrition Program, 1420 Washington Heights, School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI 48109

Background: There is substantial interest in understanding contributions of physical and social environments to health, and particularly to racial and socioeconomic disparities in health. Many questions have been raised with this line of research, including but not limited to which neighborhood indicators impact mental and physical health and at what spatial scale “neighborhood” matters. In this presentation, we draw upon data collected through the Healthy Environments Partnership, a community-based participatory research partnership designed to assess contributions of neighborhood environments to cardiovascular health disparities in Detroit. Methods: Data are from a stratified random sample survey of 919 African-American, Latino, and White adults and include self-reported physical activity, depressive symptoms, and general health, as well as interviewer-measured body mass index, waist circumference, and blood pressure. We also use data on neighborhood conditions collected through the systematic observation of each city block in which survey respondents resided, as well as each adjacent block (n=551). Results: We present the reliability and validity of three summary measures of observed neighborhood conditions derived from the Neighborhood Observational Checklist: activity friendliness, physical disorder, and territoriality. We share results of hierarchical linear models used to test associations between indicators of neighborhood conditions and mental and physical health, controlling for individual-level covariates. Results based on alternative definitions of neighborhood (i.e., block, “rook” neighborhood, census block group) will be compared. Conclusions: Based on our findings, we discuss implications of the choice of spatial scale for research examining relationships between physical and social contexts and health within urban communities.

Learning Objectives:

• 1. Describe methods to evaluate the reliability and validity of summary measures of observed neighborhood conditions.2. Discuss the sensitivity of results to alternative definitions of “neighborhood.”3. Discuss implications of the choice of spatial scale for research examining neighborhood effects on health within urban communities

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.