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Health and well-being among rural Americans: variations across the life course.

This study uses data from the 1988 National Survey of Families and Households conducted by the University of Wisconsin to examine spatial variations in physical, mental, and social well-being among young, middle aged, and elderly American adults. Rural residents of all ages were found to consistently rate their physical health more poorly than nonrural residents. Both young and old rural adults also rated themselves less happy than nonrural residents. However, middle-aged and elderly rural residents appear better off on the majority of six other indicators of well-being, and this group reports the highest proportion of adults with no health impairments. Finally, rural residents of all ages possess distinct advantages in terms of several measures of social ties.

Adult↗

Immigration--mismatches in labour, housing and space: the effects of immigration of several nationalities with regard to the Netherlands.

"In the Netherlands, the sharp recent increase of the number of refugee immigrants (asylum seekers) runs parallel to increased numbers of immigrants of other types. Therefore, at least five types of immigrants should still be distinguished (labour migrants, migrants from former colonies, from EU countries, from other rich countries, and asylum seekers). Their spatial orientation in the Netherlands (urban, suburban, rural), by choice or by constraint, is the main focus of this study. The outcomes of the immigration processes have been confronted with general and spatial characteristics of the labour market and housing market. Matches and mismatches are discussed."

Demography↗

Breast cancer surveillance using gridded population units, Connecticut, 1992 to 1995.

PURPOSE: To assess geographic variation in invasive breast cancer across Connecticut using gridded population areas to enumerate cases and the population at-risk. METHODS: The state's land mass was divided into 5168, 1-by-1 square mile areas and the population of women, 20+ years of age, within each location was estimated by areal interpolation of the 1990 US Census Block Group STF-3A data file. Using information on breast cancer incidence, 1992 to 1995, from the Connecticut Tumor Registry, latitude-longitude coordinates for place of residence at the time of breast cancer diagnosis were determined for 8530 records and assigned to appropriate grid locations. A spatial scan statistic was used to detect variation in incidence and test the significance of observed differences across the state. Standardized Incidence Ratios (SIRs) described the proportional change in the age-adjusted breast cancer incidence rate across gridded locations. RESULTS: The statewide age-adjusted invasive cancer incidence rate was 163.6/100,000 women/year. The spatial scan statistic identified three locations around Connecticut with significantly low incidence rates and four places where rates were significantly high. The most probable place of low incidence was rural Northeastern Connecticut where risk of disease, relative to elsewhere around the state, was 0.73 (p = 0.001). The most probable location of elevated incidence was a suburban location in Southwestern Connecticut with a relative risk of 2.02 (p = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Visual representation of disease incidence and underlying populations at-risk according to gridded units provides a useful tool for assessing small area variation in disease patterns.

Adult↗

Urban geochemistry: a multimedia and multielement survey of a small town in northern Europe.

The concentrations and distributions of chemical elements (Ag, Al, As, Au, Ba, Bi, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ga, Hg, K, La, Mg, Mn, Mo, Na, Ni, P, Pb, S, Sb, Sc, Se, Sr, Te, Th, Ti, Tl, U, V, W and Zn) were studied in till, humus and urban soil in Jakobstad, a small town (20,000 inhabitants) in W. Finland. The analyses were performed with ICP-MS after aqua regia leaching of till (n = 37), urban topsoil (n = 32) and subsoil (n = 32), and HNO3 leaching of humus (n = 37). The till and humus samples, collected at the same sites, were divided into urban and rural samples. The urban till was not significantly enriched in metals. In contrast, a majority of the elements occurred in higher concentrations in the urban than the rural humus samples. Statistical and spatial interpretations of the humus data revealed that traffic (Pb, V and Ni), metal industry (Pb, Zn, Bi, Sb and Cr), an abandoned shooting range (Pb and Sb) and other sources contribute to higher metal levels in the urban humus. The urban soil samples were collected at parks, yards, abandoned industrial sites, roadsides, etc. The topsoil samples were enriched in most elements, also by elements not enriched in the urban humus (e.g. Cd). At several sites, the concentrations far exceeded the limit concentrations for contaminated soils in Finland. A large variety of sources were identified or indicated.

Cities↗

Child health inequities in developing countries: differences across urban and rural areas.

OBJECTIVES: To document and compare the magnitude of inequities in child malnutrition across urban and rural areas, and to investigate the extent to which within-urban disparities in child malnutrition are accounted for by the characteristics of communities, households and individuals. METHODS: The most recent data sets available from the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) of 15 countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are used. The selection criteria were set to ensure that the number of countries, their geographical spread across Western/Central and Eastern/Southern Africa, and their socioeconomic diversities, constitute a good yardstick for the region and allow us to draw some generalizations. A household wealth index is constructed in each country and area (urban, rural), and the odds ratio between its uppermost and lowermost category, derived from multilevel logistic models, is used as a measure of socioeconomic inequalities. Control variables include mother's and father's education, community socioeconomic status (SES) designed to represent the broad socio-economic ecology of the neighborhoods in which families live, and relevant mother- and child-level covariates. RESULTS: Across countries in SSA, though socioeconomic inequalities in stunting do exist in both urban and rural areas, they are significantly larger in urban areas. Intra-urban differences in child malnutrition are larger than overall urban-rural differentials in child malnutrition, and there seem to be no visible relationships between within-urban inequities in child health on the one hand, and urban population growth, urban malnutrition, or overall rural-urban differentials in malnutrition, on the other. Finally, maternal and father's education, community SES and other measurable covariates at the mother and child levels only explain a slight part of the within-urban differences in child malnutrition. CONCLUSION: The urban advantage in health masks enormous disparities between the poor and the non-poor in urban areas of SSA. Specific policies geared at preferentially improving the health and nutrition of the urban poor should be implemented, so that while targeting the best attainable average level of health, reducing gaps between population groups is also on target. To successfully monitor the gaps between urban poor and non-poor, existing data collection programs such as the DHS and other nationally representative surveys should be re-designed to capture the changing patterns of the spatial distribution of population.

Journal Article↗

Parasitic, bacterial and viral pathogens isolated from diarrhoeal and routine stool specimens of urban Bangladeshi children.

Few data exist in Bangladesh on longitudinal, community-based studies of bacterial or parasitic pathogens identified in routine and diarrhoeal stools of urban dwelling children. We undertook the following study on 343 children of age less than 6 years who resided in one of 51 slum settings in Dhaka, Bangladesh, between October 1984 and February 1986. Specimens from diarrhoeal episodes and from routine stools obtained at 3-monthly intervals were examined for parasites, rotavirus and pathogenic bacteria. Parasites were isolated from 509 (51%) of the 1006 routine stools and from 95 (42%) of the 225 diarrhoeal stools. Isolation rates steadily increased with age. Ascaris lumbricoides and Trichuris trichiura accounted for approximately 80% of all parasitic isolates in routine and diarrhoeal stools. Giardia lamblia was isolated from 11% diarrhoeal stools. Entamoeba histolytica was an uncommon isolate (less than 1%). Bacterial pathogens were identified in 55 (24%) of the diarrhoeal stools but were identified in only 164 (16%) of the 1028 routine stools examined (P less than 0.01). Toxigenic Escherichia coli, Shigellae and Campylobacter were the most frequent isolates from diarrhoeal and routine specimens. This pathogen profile appears to be more in keeping with that from urban settings in other developing countries than from rural Bangladesh, suggesting that extrapolations from rural-based data should not be made for urban settings.

Age Factors↗

The contributions of emissions and spatial microenvironments to exposure to indoor air pollution from biomass combustion in Kenya.

Acute and chronic respiratory diseases, which are causally linked to exposure to indoor air pollution in developing countries, are the leading cause of global morbidity and mortality. Efforts to develop effective intervention strategies and detailed quantification of the exposure-response relationship for indoor particulate matter require accurate estimates of exposure. We used continuous monitoring of indoor air pollution and individual time-activity budget data to construct detailed profiles of exposure for 345 individuals in 55 households in rural Kenya. Data for analysis were from two hundred ten 14-hour days of continuous real-time monitoring of concentrations of particulate matter [less than/equal to] 10 microm in aerodynamic diameter and the location and activities of household members. These data were supplemented by data on the spatial dispersion of pollution and from interviews. Young and adult women had not only the highest absolute exposure to particulate matter (2, 795 and 4,898 microg/m(3) average daily exposure concentrations, respectively) but also the largest exposure relative to that of males in the same age group (2.5 and 4.8 times, respectively). Exposure during brief high-intensity emission episodes accounts for 31-61% of the total exposure of household members who take part in cooking and 0-11% for those who do not. Simple models that neglect the spatial distribution of pollution within the home, intense emission episodes, and activity patterns underestimate exposure by 3-71% for different demographic subgroups, resulting in inaccurate and biased estimations. Health and intervention impact studies should therefore consider in detail the critical role of exposure patterns, including the short periods of intense emission, to avoid spurious assessments of risks and benefits.

Adolescent↗

The stratifying force of family size, urbanization and parental education in socialist-era Poland.

The strength of influence upon statural variation of: (1) the degree of urbanization of the locality of habitat, (2) family size, (3) paternal and (4) maternal educational status was analysed in three generations of 19-year-old Polish conscripts, examined in 1965, 1986 and 1995. Each of the above factors of an individual's social situation was described by a 4-level scale. Each factor was found to exert a highly significant residual effect on stature throughout the three decades considered, even after the effects of other correlated factors were partialed out by three-factor ANOVA. However, the stratifying force of each factor, as expressed by the dispersal of the level-specific main effects around the national mean, has been changing over time. For example, the growth-stunting effect of the condition of coming from a large sibship was dramatic in the 1965 cohort and considerably attenuated in 1986 but ceased to diminish thereafter. The growth-enhancing effect of the condition of being a large-city dweller, initially marked, has almost disappeared; but the growth-stunting effect of the condition of being a rural dweller has remained equally strong across all cohorts. These and other shifts in the relative importance of the social factors, as presumed determinants of family living standards, are described and some explanations attempted.

Adolescent↗

Population change and environment in central and eastern Kenya.

"This paper, in compiling a case-study of six districts in Central and Eastern Provinces of Kenya, addresses the two poles of theory regarding population, environment, and economy--restricted growth and degradation versus induced change and intensification. The paper presents data on population change, and explores its relevance for changing patterns of resource use and economic opportunity.... Changes in population density between the 1969 and 1979 censuses are compiled, using regions of agroclimatic potential as surrogates for indicators of economic development.... Trends in urbanization are also analysed, to illuminate the dynamics of rural-urban linkages."

Africa↗

Community health for Rwandan refugees.

Health education and disease prevention programs are essential elements in every health care system. We normally envision community health programs in urban and rural settings across Canada. However, health education and disease prevention have also become a fundamental part of the health care system for refugee communities around the world.

Adult↗

Urbanization in post-revolution Iran.

"Post-revolution Iran adopted a development strategy centering around the three main tactics of controlling the expansion of Tehran, redistributing various functions to major regional cities, and promoting the growth of smaller cities in rural areas. The present paper will take up the problems pertaining to the urbanization ingredient of the new development plan by investigating if smaller regional cities have in fact during the post-revolutionary period been absorbing population surpluses created in Tehran; and if so, to what scale such population absorption is functioning."

Asia↗

Community reactions to reproductive health care at three school-based clinics in Louisiana.

Despite the growing success of school-based health care during the past two decades, the issue of providing reproductive health care at school-based health centers remains controversial. In this article, focus group data from three school-based centers in Louisiana, each in different stages of development, demonstrates how the controversies about reproductive health may frame more general concerns about school-based care. In addition, community readiness to address directly problematic sexual behavior relates not only to the specific needs and priorities of the community but to recognition of the negative effect of the consequences of sexual behavior such as pregnancy, high drop out, and absenteeism rates on a community's educational, rather than social, goals and values.

Adolescent↗

Temporal variation in the mating structure of Sanday, Orkney Islands.

Pedigree and vital statistics data from the population of Sanday, Orkney Islands, Scotland, were used to assess temporal changes in population structure. Secular trends in patterns of mate choice were analysed for three separate birth cohorts of spouses: 1855-1884, 1885-1924 and 1925-1964. The degree to which mating was random or assortative with respect to both genealogical and geographic distance was determined by comparing average characteristics of all potential mates of married males with those of actual wives. We integrated this procedure, originally developed by Dyke (1971), into a three-fold investigation of population structure: (1) comparison of random and non-random components of relatedness as measured from pedigree data; (2) an analysis of marital distance distributions for actual and potential mates of married males; and (3) the relationship between genealogical relatedness and geographic distance. As population size decreased from 1881 to the present, total kinship and spatial distances between spouses increased. Whereas the random component of relatedness increased over time, consanguinity avoidance was sufficient to decrease the total coefficient of kinship over time. Part of the increase in consanguinity avoidance was associated with isolate breakdown, as distances between island-born spouses, as well as the total amount of off-island migration, increased from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. Mate choice was influenced by geographic distance for all time periods, although this effect diminished over time. Since decreases in population size, concomitant with increases in consanguinity avoidance and community exogamy, have probably occurred quite frequently in small human populations, as well as in rural Western communities in the past century, observed secular trends illustrate the potential for change in population structure characteristic of isolate breakdown.

Consanguinity↗

Determination of the source areas contributing to regionally high warm season PM2.5 in eastern North America.

An ensemble-trajectory analysis technique known as Quantitative Transport Bias Analysis was applied to determine which geographic areas systematically contributed to above- and below-average fine particle mass (PM2.5) over eastern North America. Six-hour average measurements from 12 rural or suburban locations in eastern North America collected using a tapered element oscillating microbalance were individually associated with corresponding 3-day back-trajectories for the warm seasons (May-September) of 2000 and 2001. Much of the populated areas of northeastern North America were implicated in the build-up of PM2.5 to above-average concentrations. The finer structure of the Quantitative Transport Bias Analysis pattern indicated that transport from the Ohio River Valley, particularly the eastern portion of this area, was most often associated with the highest PM2.5 concentrations. In addition, air masses originating over a relatively large area from southeast Ohio to the western part of Virginia and the western Kentucky to central Tennessee area tended to result in relatively high PM2.5 concentrations over northeastern North America. These observation-based findings were consistent with the spatial distribution of the main sulfur dioxide emissions sources and the major oxides of nitrogen point sources.

Air Movements↗

Spatial analysis of elderly access to primary care services.

BACKGROUND: Admissions for Ambulatory Care Sensitive Conditions (ACSCs) are considered preventable admissions, because they are unlikely to occur when good preventive health care is received. Thus, high rates of admissions for ACSCs among the elderly (persons aged 65 or above who qualify for Medicare health insurance) are signals of poor preventive care utilization. The relevant geographic market to use in studying these admission rates is the primary care physician market. Our conceptual model assumes that local market conditions serving as interventions along the pathways to preventive care services utilization can impact ACSC admission rates. RESULTS: We examine the relationships between market-level supply and demand factors on market-level rates of ACSC admissions among the elderly residing in the U.S. in the late 1990s. Using 6,475 natural markets in the mainland U.S. defined by The Health Resources and Services Administration's Primary Care Service Area Project, spatial regression is used to estimate the model, controlling for disease severity using detailed information from Medicare claims files. Our evidence suggests that elderly living in impoverished rural areas or in sprawling suburban places are about equally more likely to be admitted for ACSCs. Greater availability of physicians does not seem to matter, but greater prevalence of non-physician clinicians and international medical graduates, relative to U.S. medical graduates, does seem to reduce ACSC admissions, especially in poor rural areas. CONCLUSION: The relative importance of non-physician clinicians and international medical graduates in providing primary care to the elderly in geographic areas of greatest need can inform the ongoing debate regarding whether there is an impending shortage of physicians in the United States. These findings support other authors who claim that the existing supply of physicians is perhaps adequate, however the distribution of them across the landscape may not be optimal. The finding that elderly who reside in sprawling urban areas have access impediments about equal to residents of poor rural communities is new, and demonstrates the value of conceptualizing and modelling impedance based on place and local context.

Aged↗

Population changes in a growth center region with reference to the Israeli Negev.

"The aim of this paper is to present a scheme of relative population changes in a geographic-termed growth center region, with reference to a real problem of development as implemented in the Israeli Negev arid zone. The growth process described in the scheme leads to dynamic steady-states which indicate stable structure and stable relationships between the components of the regional system--the growth center and its urban and rural hinterlands. It was found that the relative population growth process in the Negev during the last thirty years is similar to the process determined by the scheme.... An additional thrust of this paper is methodological: to introduce and apply the hexagonal diagram to describe and classify processes of relative population growth."

Asia↗