Neighborhood socioeconomic status linked to premature mortality

Low neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with premature mortality, according to a study published online Aug. 8 in JAMA Network Open.

Wayne R. Lawrence, Dr.P.H., from the National Institutes of Health in Rockville, Maryland, and colleagues examined the association of life-course neighborhood SES and premature mortality in a cohort study including 12,610 Black and White participants (25.2 and 74.8 percent, respectively) of the multicenter Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study. Participants were followed for a mean of 18.8 years from 1996 to 2020.

The researchers observed an association for the lowest versus the highest tertile of neighborhood SES score in middle adulthood with a higher risk for premature mortality (hazard ratio, 1.28; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.07 to 1.54). Similar associations were seen for neighborhood SES in young adulthood among women and for neighborhood SES in childhood for White participants (hazard ratios [95 percent confidence intervals], 1.25 [1.00 to 1.56] and 1.25 [1.01 to 1.56], respectively). An increased risk for premature mortality was seen for participants whose neighborhood SES remained low from young to middle adulthood compared with those whose neighborhood SES remained high (hazard ratio, 1.25; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.05 to 1.49).

“Future studies aimed at identifying place-based interventions that target neighborhood social determinants of health should be designed from a life course perspective that accounts for early-life socioeconomic inequality, as this is a critical route to alleviating premature death,” the authors write.

One author disclosed ties to the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation; a second author received grants from the Krueger v. Wyeth class action lawsuit.

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