nach oben

European Journal of Ageing

Erschienen in:

01.06.2005 | Original Investigation

Discrepancies between personal income and neighbourhood status: effects on physical and mental health

verfasst von: Dorly J. H. Deeg, G. C. Fleur Thomése

Erschienen in: European Journal of Ageing | Ausgabe 2/2005

Einloggen, um Zugang zu erhalten

Abstract

During their life course, older persons’ income level may become discrepant with the socio-economic status of their neighbourhood. This study examines whether and how such discrepancies affect older persons’ physical and mental health. Using baseline data from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam, 2,540 non-institutionalised persons aged 55–85 years were classified based on self-reported income and neighbourhood status. Two categories defined discrepancies: discrepant-low (DL, low income in high-status neighbourhood), and discrepant-high (DH, high income in low-status neighbourhood). Both categories were compared with the same reference category: matched-high (MH, high personal and high neighbourhood income status). A range of health indicators were examined, as well as mediating effects of neighbourhood and individual characteristics. Among the 504 persons who reported a high income, 16% lived in a low-status neighbourhood (DH). Conversely, among the 757 persons living in a high-status neighbourhood, 24% had a low income (DL). The DL category mainly lived in rural areas, and the DH category predominantly in large cities. The data show discrepant income effects (DL vs. MH) on physical and cognitive ability, self-rated health, and loneliness, and discrepant neighbourhood effects (DH vs. MH) on physical and cognitive ability, depressive symptoms, and loneliness. Personal income effects were partly mediated by other personal characteristics, and neighbourhood effects were fully mediated by socio-economic neighbourhood characteristics as well as by older persons’ perceptions of their neighbourhood and their income. It is concluded that discrepancies between personal income and neighbourhood status, accrued throughout the life course, are associated with poor health.

Balfour JL, Kaplan GA (2002) Neighborhood environment and loss of physical function in older adults: evidence from the Alameda County Study. Am J Epidemiol 155:507–515CrossRefPubMed

Beekman ATF, Deeg DJH, Van Limbeek J, Braam AW, De Vries MZ, Van Tilburg W (1997) Criterion validity of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale (CES-D): results from a community based sample of older subjects in the Netherlands. Psychol Med 27:231–235CrossRefPubMed

Blakely T, Woodward A (2000) Ecological effects in multi-level studies. J Epidemiol Community Health 54:367–374CrossRefPubMed

Boyle P, Norman P, Rees P (2002) Does migration exaggerate the relationship between deprivation and limiting long-term illness? A Scottish analysis. Social Sci Med 55:21–31CrossRef

Braam GPA (2001) Ouderen sterk onderbelicht in armoedeonderzoek (Older adults neglected in poverty research). Tijdschr Gerontol Geriatr 32:146–149PubMed

Brown V (1995) The effects of poverty environments on elders’ subjective well-being: a conceptual model. Gerontologist 35:541–548PubMed

Deeg DJH, Knipscheer CPM, Van Tilburg W (eds) (1993) Autonomy and well-being in the aging population: concepts and design of the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam. NIG Trendstudies no 7. Netherlands Institute of Gerontology, Bunnik

Deeg DJH, Van Tilburg T, Smit JH, De Leeuw ED (2002) Attrition in the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam: the effect of differential inclusion in side studies. J Clin Epidemiol 55:319–328CrossRefPubMed

De Jong Gierveld J, Kamphuis FH (1985) The development of a Rasch-type loneliness-scale. Appl Psychol Measure 9:289–299

Den Dulk CJ, Van de Stadt H, Vliegen JM (1992) Een nieuwe maatstaf voor stedelijkheid: de omgevingsadressendichtheid (A new measure for degree of urbanization: the address density of the surrounding area). Maandstat Bevolking 40:14–27PubMed

Fauth RC, Leventhal T, Brooks-Gunn J (2004) Short-term effects of moving from public housing in poor to middle-class neighborhoods on low-income, minority adults’ outcomes. Social Sci Med 59:2271–2284CrossRef

Fisher KJ, Li FZ, Michael Y, Cleveland M (2004) Neighborhood-level influences on physical activity among older adults: a multilevel analysis. J Aging Phys Activity 12:45–63

Folstein MF, Folstein SE, McHugh PR (1975) “Mini-mental state”: a practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician. J Psychiatr Res 12:89–198CrossRef

Glass TA, Balfour JL (2003) Neighborhoods, aging, and functional limitations. In: Kawachi I, Berkman LF (eds) Neighborhoods and health. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 303–334

Golant SM (2003) Conceptualizing time and behavior in environmental gerontology: a pair of old issues deserving new thought. Gerontologist 43:538–548

Grundy E, Holt G (2001) The socioeconomic status of older adults: how should we measure it in studies of health inequalities? J Epidemiol Community Health 55:895–904CrossRefPubMed

Guralnik JM, Simonsick EM, Ferrucci L, Glynn RJ, Berkman LF, Blazer DG, Scherr PA, Wallace RB (1994) A short physical performance battery assessing lower extremity function: association with self-reported disability and prediction of mortality and nursing home admission. J Gerontol Med Sci 49:M85–94

Hou F, Myles J (2005) Neighbourhood inequality, neighbourhood affluence and population health. Social Sci Med 60:1557–1569CrossRef

Huisman M, Kunst AE, Mackenbach J (2003) Socioeconomic inequalities in morbidity among the elderly; a European overview. Social Sci Med 57:861–873CrossRef

Kawachi I, Berkman LF (2003) Introduction. In: Kawachi I, Berkman LF (eds) Neighborhoods and health. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 1–19

Kawachi I, Kennedy BP (1997) Socioeconomic determinants of health: health and social cohesion: why care about income inequality? Br Med J 314:1037

Knipscheer CPM, De Jong Gierveld J, Van Tilburg TG, Dykstra PA (eds) (1995) Living arrangements and social networks of older adults. VU University Press, Amsterdam

Kobetz E, Daniel M, Earp JA (2003) Neighborhood poverty and self-reported health among low-income, rural women, 50 years and older. Health Place 9:263–271CrossRefPubMed

Krause N (1996) Neighborhood deterioration and self-rated health in later life. Psychol Aging 11:342–352CrossRefPubMed

Krause N (2003) Neighborhoods, health, and well-being in late life. Annu Rev Gerontol Geriatr 23:223–249

Kriegsman DMW, Deeg DJH, Van Eijk JTM, Penninx BWJH, Boeke AJP (1997) Do disease specific characteristics add to the explanation of mobility limitations in patients with different chronic diseases? A study in The Netherlands. J Epidemiol Community Health 51:676–685PubMed

Launer LJ, Dinkgreve MHAM, Jonker C, Hooijer C, Lindeboom J (1993) Are age and education independent correlates of the Mini-Mental State Exam performance of community-dwelling elderly? J Gerontol Psychol Sci 48:271–277

Lopez R (2004) Income inequality and self-rated health in US metropolitan areas: a multi-level analysis. Social Sci Med 59:2409–2419CrossRef

Macintyre S, Ellaway A (2003) Neighborhoods and health: an overview. In: Kawachi I, Berkman LF (eds) Neighborhoods and health. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 20–42

Macintyre S, Ellaway A, Cummins S (2002) Place effects on health: how can we conceptualise, operationalise and measure them? Social Sci Med 55:125–139CrossRef

Magaziner J, Zimmerman SI, Gruber-Baldini AL, Hebel JR, Fox KM (1997) Proxy reporting in five areas of functional status. Comparison with self-reports and observations of performance. Am J Epidemiol 146:418–428PubMed

Marmot M, Wilkinson RG (2001) Psychosocial and material pathways in the relation between income and health: a response to Lynch et al. Br Med J 322:1233–1236

Mollenkopf H, Marcellini F, Ruoppila I, Széman Z, Tacken M, Wahl H-W (2004) Social and behavioural science perspectives on out-of-home mobility in later life: findings from the European project MOBILATE. Eur J Ageing 1:45–53CrossRef

Patel KV, Eschbach K, Rudkin LL, Peek MK, Markides KS (2003) Neighborhood context and self-rated health in older Mexican Americans. Ann Epidemiol 13:620–628

Radloff LS (1977) The CES-D scale: a self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Appl Psychol Measures 1:385–401

Robert SA (2002) Community context and aging—future research issues. Res Aging 24:579–599

Robert SA, Li LW (2002) Age variation in the relationship between community socioeconomic status and adult health. Res Aging 23:233–258

Rowles GD, Ravdal H (2002) Aging, place and meaning in the face of changing circumstances. In: Weiss RS, Bass SA (eds) Challenges of the third age. Oxford University Press, New York, pp 81–114

Sampson RJ, Morenoff JD, Gannon-Rowley T (2002) Assessing neighbourhood effects: social processes and new directions in research. Annu Rev Sociol 28:443–478CrossRef

Schiepers JMP (1988) Huishoudensequivalentiefactoren volgens de budgetverdelingsmethode (Household equivalence factors using the budget distribution method). Sociaal-Econ Maandstat suppl 2:28–36

Simonsick EM, Phillips CL, Skinner EA, Davis D, Kasper JD (1995) The daily lives of disabled older women. In: Guralnik JM, Fried LP, Simonsick EM, Kasper JD, Lafferty ME (eds) The Women’s Health and Aging Study: health and social characteristics of older women with disability. National Institute on Aging, Bethesda, MD, pp 50–69

Statistics Netherlands (1993) Wijk- en buurtregister 1993 (District and neighbourhood registry 1993). Statistics Netherlands, Voorburg/Heerlen

Thomése F, Van Tilburg T, Knipscheer CPM (2003) Continuation of exchange with neighbors in later life: the importance of the neighborhood context. Personal Relation 10:535–550CrossRef

Van Sonsbeek JLA (1988) Methodische en inhoudelijke aspecten van de OESO-vragenlijst betreffende langdurige beperkingen in het lichamelijk functioneren (Methodological and substantial aspects of the OECD questionnaire regarding long-term limitations in physical functioning). Maandber Gezondheid (CBS) 88/6:4–17

Van Sonsbeek JLA (1991) Het eigen oordeel over de gezondheid; methodische effecten bij het gezondheidsoordeel in gezondheidsenquêtes (The self-rating of health: methodological effects of the rating of health in health interview surveys). Maandber Gezondheid (CBS) 91/9:15–23

Wainwright NWJ, Surtees PG (2004) Places, people, and their physical and mental functional health. J Epidemiol Community Health 58:333–339CrossRefPubMed

Walters K, Breeze E, Wilkinson P, Price GM, Bulpitt CJ, Fletcher A (2004) Local area deprivation and urban-rural differences in anxiety and depression among people older than 75 years in Britain. Am J Publ Health 94:1768–1774

Titel: Discrepancies between personal income and neighbourhood status: effects on physical and mental health
verfasst von: Dorly J. H. Deeg
G. C. Fleur Thomése
Publikationsdatum: 01.06.2005
Verlag: Springer-Verlag
Erschienen in: European Journal of Ageing / Ausgabe 2/2005
Print ISSN: 1613-9372
Elektronische ISSN: 1613-9380
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433-005-0027-4

Springer Medizin

Abstract

Bitte loggen Sie sich ein, um Zugang zu diesem Inhalt zu erhalten

Weitere Artikel der Ausgabe 2/2005

Rural and urban perspectives on growing old: developing a new research agenda

Social exclusion of older people in deprived urban communities of England

Ageing in rural areas of East and West Germany: increasing similarities and remaining differences

The relationship between rural community type and attachment to place for older people living in North Wales, UK

Ageing research along the urban–rural distinction: old questions and new potential

Ageing and person–environment fit in different urban neighbourhoods