The Neighborhood Environment and Hispanic/Latino Health

Authors

Natalia I Heredia
Tianlin Xu
MinJae Lee
Lorna H McNeill
Belinda M Reininger

Publication Date

1-1-2022

Journal

American Journal of Health Promotion

Abstract

PURPOSE: Hispanic/Latino adults on the Texas-Mexico border have high rates of chronic disease. Neighborhoods can influence health, though there is a limited research on neighborhood environment and health in Hispanics/Latinos. The purpose of this study was to assess the relation of neighborhood environment with health variables in Hispanic/Latino adults, including physical activity [PA], depression, anxiety, and lab-assessed conditions (type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and chronic inflammation).

METHODS: Participants were randomly-selected from a Hispanic/Latino cohort on the Texas-Mexico border. Neighborhood environment, self-reported PA, anxiety, and depression were assessed through questionnaires. Laboratory values determined Type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and C-reactive protein (CRP). We conducted multivariable linear and logistic regression analyses to assess the associations of neighborhood environment and health variables, controlling for covariates.

RESULTS: Participants (n = 495) were mostly females, without insurance. After controlling for covariates, crime (Adjusted Odds Ratio [AOR] = 1.59 (95%CI 1.06-2.38), no streetlights (AOR = 1.65, 95%CI 1.06-2.57), and traffic (AOR = 1.74, 95%CI 1.16-2.62) were all significantly associated with anxiety. Only traffic was significantly associated with depression (AOR = 1.61, 95%CI1.05-2.47). A lack of nearby shops (AOR = 0.57, 95%CI 0.38-0.84) and no one out doing PA (AOR = 0.53, 95% CI 0.34-0.83) were both significantly associated with lower odds of meeting PA guidelines. A lack of nearby shops was associated with a 26% increase in the CRP value (β = 0.26, 95%CI 0.04-0.47).

DISCUSSION: Several neighborhood environment variables were significantly associated with mental health, PA and CRP, though estimates were small. The neighborhood environment is a meaningful contextual variable to consider for health-related interventions in Hispanic/Latino adults, though more study is needed regarding the magnitude of the estimates.

TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT01168765.

Keywords

Crime, Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2, Exercise, Female, Hispanic or Latino, Humans, Male, Residence Characteristics, community, specific settings, active living, built environment, opportunity, physical activity, health disparities, mental health, Hispanic, Latino, Mexican American, environmental health, c-reactive protein, inflammation, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, depression, anxiety, neighborhood, crime, traffic

DOI

10.1177/08901171211022677

PMID

34128383

PMCID

PMC8671146

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

1-1-2022

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Author MSS

Published Open-Access

yes