TY - JOUR

T1 - The association of neighborhood socioeconomic characteristics with cardiovascular health

T2 - A quasi-experimental study of refugees to Denmark

AU - Jensen, Natasja Koitzsch

AU - Frøslev, Trine

AU - Foverskov, Else

AU - Glymour, Maria

AU - Sørensen, Henrik Toft

AU - Hamad, Rita

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Authors

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - Neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage is associated with cardiovascular health, although it is unclear which specific aspects of neighborhoods matter most. We leveraged a natural experiment in which refugees to Denmark were quasi-randomly assigned to neighborhoods across the country during 1986–1998, creating variation in exposure to various aspects of neighborhood disadvantage. The cohort was followed through December 2018. Exposures included neighborhood-level family income, educational attainment, unemployment, and welfare transfers measured in the first neighborhood after arrival to Denmark. Outcomes included cardiovascular risk factors (hyperlipidemia, hypertension, diabetes and anxiety/depression) and cardiovascular disease (acute myocardial infarction and ischemic heart disease). Neighborhood-level income and education were most consistently associated with cardiovascular risk factors, whereas welfare transfers were most consistently associated with cardiovascular disease. Addressing these specific aspects of neighborhood disadvantage could therefore lower the risk of poor cardiovascular health among refugees. Future research is warranted to examine if results are generalizable to other immigrant groups, countries or time periods.

AB - Neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage is associated with cardiovascular health, although it is unclear which specific aspects of neighborhoods matter most. We leveraged a natural experiment in which refugees to Denmark were quasi-randomly assigned to neighborhoods across the country during 1986–1998, creating variation in exposure to various aspects of neighborhood disadvantage. The cohort was followed through December 2018. Exposures included neighborhood-level family income, educational attainment, unemployment, and welfare transfers measured in the first neighborhood after arrival to Denmark. Outcomes included cardiovascular risk factors (hyperlipidemia, hypertension, diabetes and anxiety/depression) and cardiovascular disease (acute myocardial infarction and ischemic heart disease). Neighborhood-level income and education were most consistently associated with cardiovascular risk factors, whereas welfare transfers were most consistently associated with cardiovascular disease. Addressing these specific aspects of neighborhood disadvantage could therefore lower the risk of poor cardiovascular health among refugees. Future research is warranted to examine if results are generalizable to other immigrant groups, countries or time periods.

KW - Cardiovascular disease

KW - Cardiovascular risk factors

KW - Neighborhood disadvantage

KW - Policy evaluation

KW - Quasi-experiment

KW - Refugees

U2 - 10.1016/j.healthplace.2023.103128

DO - 10.1016/j.healthplace.2023.103128

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 37844523

AN - SCOPUS:85173802222

VL - 84

JO - Health and Place

JF - Health and Place

SN - 1353-8292

M1 - 103128

ER -