February 23, 2024
2 minute read
Important points:
- Chronic health conditions were higher in economically challenged areas.
- Prevalence was also higher in areas with higher levels of area deprivation.
Research has found that several indicators of structural racism are associated with higher prevalence of chronic health conditions in residential neighborhoods.
researchers led by Dinushka Mohotige, MD, MPH, Professors in the Department of Nephrology and Population Health Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai investigated the relationship between indicators of structural racism and the prevalence of chronic kidney disease, diabetes, and hypertension in Durham County, North Carolina. surveyed 150 districts.
“Durham was an ideal place for people.” [the study] For several reasons. It’s very diverse in terms of race, ethnicity, education and socio-economic status,” Mohotige told Healio. “Neighborhoods that reflect extremes in wealth, income, and poverty are gentrifying rapidly.”
“People who experience minoritization due to historical and current sociopolitical power differentials have significantly higher rates of chronic disease,” the researchers wrote in the study. “Efforts to uncover potential targets for interventions aimed at reducing health inequalities in residential areas are just beginning.”
Public data
In this study, researchers used public data from 2012 to 2018 and anonymized electronic health records from 2017 to 2018. Durham County neighborhoods were home to 1,109 to 2,489 people, of whom % were Asian, 30% were Black, 10% were Hispanic or Latino, and 10% were Native American. And 44% are white. Edian housing income was $54,531. Data was analyzed from 2021 to 2023.
Researchers looked at a variety of global and individual indicators, including the proportion of white residents in a neighborhood, economic and racial segregation, and neighborhood deprivation. Individual indicators include the presence of daycare centers, bus stops, tree cover, reported violent crime, impervious land, evictions, electoral participation, income, poverty, education, unemployment, health insurance, and police shootings. included.
The results revealed that the higher the burden on the structural racism index, the higher the prevalence of the primary outcome. Prevalence was higher in neighborhoods with lower proportions of whites, lower economic and racial spatial advantage, and higher area deprivation. Researchers also found that areas with higher reported violent crime, evictions, poverty, unemployment, uninsuredness, child care density, and lower levels of electoral participation, income, and education had lower prevalence of these health conditions. I also found that it was high.
“We studied the relationship between structural racism and overall neighborhood health,” Mohotige told Healio. “We did not specifically study how structural racism in neighborhoods is differentially related to the health outcomes of other white people. “We found that the burden of structural racism indicators was much higher. The greater the burden of structural racism in a neighborhood, the worse the health status of that neighborhood,” Mohottizi said. Ta. “Future research is needed to demonstrate how structural racism specifically affects human individuals.”
Structural conditions
The findings highlight an opportunity for cities like Durham to take steps aimed at eliminating structural conditions that impact health. L. Ebony Boulware, MD, MPH, he is a professor at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and the study's senior author, told Healio. “Changing some of the structural conditions that underlie differences in neighborhood health outcomes will require a coordinated multisectoral policy effort, especially given the history of underinvestment in minority neighborhoods. We need policies that bring it back,” Bulware said. “We need a lot of policies. [those] It aims to improve equity in education and employment, improve recreational green space, and promote the ability of local residents to participate in local policy. ”
Information source/disclosure information
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Disclosure: Mokhotige reports receiving support from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities
