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ABSTRACT:
Objective: To examine the contextual effects of urban neighborhood characteristics on all-cause mortality among adults aged 70 years and older. Methods: Survey data are from the Study of Assets and Health Dynamics Among the Oldest Old (AHEAD), a 1993 U.S. national probability sample of noninstitutionalized persons born in 1923 or earlier. Death is assessed between the baseline assessment (1993) and the first follow-up interview (1995). Neighborhood data are from the 1990 Census. Hierarchical logistic regression is used to estimate multilevel models. Results: In multilevel models, the effects of neighborhood-level socioeconomic disadvantage were not significantly associated with 2-year all-cause mortality, net of individuallevel variables. The log odds of dying between the two time points are higher in high proportion Hispanic neighborhoods, net of individual-level socio-demographic variables, but this effect is partly mediated by individual-level health variables. The log odds of dying are significantly (p < 0.05) lower in affluent neighborhoods, controlling for all individual-level variables, including potential health mediators, and controlling for proportion Hispanic. Discussion: There are survival-related benefits of living in an affluent urban neighborhood, which we posit may be manifest through the diffusion of innovations in health care and health promotion activities in these areas.

SUGGESTED CITATION:
Richard Wight, Janet Cummings, Arun Karlamangla, and Carol Aneshensel, "Urban Neighborhood Context and Mortality in Late Life" (December 1, 2008). California Center for Population Research. On-Line Working Paper Series. Paper CCPR-027-08.
http://repositories.cdlib.org/ccpr/olwp/CCPR-027-08