Air Pollution and Individual and Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status: Evidence from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA)

作者：Hajat Anjum^*; Diez Roux Ana V; Adar Sara D; Auchincloss Amy H; Lovasi Gina S; O' Neill Marie S; Sheppard Lianne; Kaufman Joel D

来源：Environmental Health Perspectives, 2013, 121(11-12): 1325-1333.

DOI：10.1289/ehp.1206337

BACKGROUND: Although research has shown that low socio-economic status (SES) and minority communities have higher exposure to air pollution, few studies have simultaneously investigated the associations of individual and neighborhood SES with pollutants across multiple sites. %26lt;br%26gt;OBJECTIVES: We characterized the distribution of ambient air pollution by both individual and neighborhood SES using spatial regression methods. %26lt;br%26gt;METHODS: The study population comprised 6,140 participants from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA). Year 2000 annual average ambient PM2.5 and NOx concentrations were calculated for each study participant%26apos;s home address at baseline examination. We investigated individual and neighborhood (2000 U. S. Census tract level) SES measures corresponding to the domains of income, wealth, education, and occupation. We used a spatial intrinsic conditional autoregressive model for multivariable analysis and examined pooled and metropolitan area-specific models. %26lt;br%26gt;RESULTS: A 1-unit increase in the z-score for family income was associated with 0.03-mu g/m(3) lower PM2.5 (95% CI: -0.05, -0.01) and 0.93% lower NOx (95% CI: -1.33, -0.53) after adjustment for covariates. A 1-SD-unit increase in the neighborhood%26apos;s percentage of persons with at least a high school degree was associated with 0.47-mu g/m(3) lower mean PM2.5 (95% CI: -0.55, -0.40) and 9.61% lower NOx (95% CI: -10.85, -8.37). Metropolitan area-specific results exhibited considerable heterogeneity. For example, in New York, high-SES neighborhoods were associated with higher concentrations of pollution. %26lt;br%26gt;CONCLUSIONS: We found statistically significant associations of SES measures with predicted air pollutant concentrations, demonstrating the importance of accounting for neighborhood-and individual-level SES in air pollution health effects research.

• 出版日期2013-12