A Swiss neighbourhood index of socioeconomic position: Development and Association with Mortality

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Serval ID
serval:BIB_E37297AF5F40
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
A Swiss neighbourhood index of socioeconomic position: Development and Association with Mortality
Journal
Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
Author(s)
Panczak R., Galobardes B., Voorpostel M., Spoerri A., Zwahlen M., Egger M.
Publication state
Published
Issued date
2012
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
66
Number
12
Pages
1129-1136
Language
english
Abstract
Background Area-based measures of socioeconomic position (SEP) suitable for epidemiological research are lacking in Switzerland. The authors developed the Swiss neighbourhood index of SEP (Swiss-SEP).
Methods Neighbourhoods of 50 households with overlapping boundaries were defined using Census 2000 and road network data. Median rent per square metre, proportion households headed by a person with primary education or less, proportion headed by a person in manual or unskilled occupation and the mean number of persons per room were analysed in principle component analysis. The authors compared the index with independent income data and examined associations with mortality from 2001 to 2008.
Results 1.27 million overlapping neighbourhoods were defined. Education, occupation and housing variables had loadings of 0.578, 0.570 and 0.362, respectively, and median rent had a loading of −0.459. Mean yearly equivalised income of households increased from SFr42 000 to SFr72 000 between deciles of neighbourhoods with lowest and highest SEP. Comparing deciles of neighbourhoods with lowest to highest SEP, the age- and sex-adjusted HR was 1.38 (95% CI 1.36 to 1.41) for all-cause mortality, 1.83 (95% CI 1.71 to 1.95) for lung cancer, 1.48 (95% CI 1.44 to 1.51) for cardiovascular diseases, 2.42 (95% CI 1.94 to 3.01) for traffic accidents, 0.93 (95% CI 0.85 to 1.02) for breast cancer and 0.86 (95% CI 0.78 to 0.95) for suicide.
Conclusions Developed using a novel approach to define neighbourhoods, the Swiss-SEP index was strongly associated with household income and some causes of death. It will be useful for clinical- and population-based studies, where individual-level socioeconomic data are often missing, and to investigate the effects on health of the socioeconomic characteristics of a place.
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Create date
30/07/2014 13:55
Last modification date
20/08/2019 16:07
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