Event Title
Poster Introductions I--Neighborhood Characteristics and Physical Functioning-related Variables in Mid-life Women Living in Rural and Urban Areas in the Midwestern United States
Start Date
15-10-2009 12:00 PM
End Date
15-10-2009 12:15 PM
Description
Objectives: We investigated whether higher neighborhood poverty was associated with poorer physical functioning-related health outcomes, including body mass index (BMI), waist size and percent body fat; self-rated physical activity; and performance-based physical functioning, including timed walk, timed stair climb, and timed 2-lb lift in a sample of mid-life women.
Methods: The study sample (n=1156) combines two study cohorts, including Michigan Bone Health and Metabolism Study (n=614) and Michigan site of Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (n=542). Year 1996 participant addresses were geocoded using batchgeocode.com and measures of neighborhood poverty (the proportion of residents living below the poverty line in a participant’s census tract) were obtained from 1990 census data. Multilevel models with random intercepts were justified for two outcomes only (timed walk and 2-lb lift). All other continuous outcomes were modeled using OLS regression. Ordinal logistic regression models were used to evaluate the association between neighborhood poverty and self-rated physical activity (less, the same or more as similar-aged women).
Results: Average (SD) age was 42.8 (1.1) (range 27-53), average (SD) body mass index (BMI) 28.3 (1.3) kg/m2. Seventy-two percent of the sample was white, and 28% identified as black. Women lived in 19 diverse Michigan counties, and participant neighborhood poverty level ranged from 0.7% - 53.7% with a mean (SD) of 16.9% (2.0). Higher neighborhood poverty was significantly associated with higher BMI [β (SE) 0.04 (0.01), p=0.01] and larger waist size [β (SE) 0.03 (0.01), p=0.004] after adjusting for age, race, highest education level completed, smoking status, presence and severity of pain, presence of diabetes and depressive symptoms. Higher neighborhood poverty was also associated with worse self-rated physical activity [OR (95% CI) 1.4 (1.1, 1.9)] and slower timed walk [β (SE) 0.03 (0.01), p=0.02] in adjusted models. A borderline association with slower timed stair climb was also identified [β (SE) 0.04 (0.02), p=0.06]. Percent body fat and 2-lb lift were not associated with neighborhood poverty level in adjusted models.
Conclusion: Our results provide some support for our hypothesis that higher neighborhood poverty was associated with poorer physical functioning-related outcomes after adjusting for individual-level factors, however not all of our hypothesized relationships were significant.
Kristin Tomey is an Assistant Research Scientist at the University of Michigan Department of Epidemiology in the School of Public Health. The focal point of Dr. Tomey’s research is disability and functioning. She has published articles on the nutritional status of disabled populations, as well the relationships between physical functioning and depressive symptoms, inflammatory disease biomarkers, and dietary intake. Her current research interests include the characterization of physical functioning performance as an intersection of individual physical deficits, use of aids, human help, and compensation strategies to bolster performance, as well as the neighborhood and home environment. She is currently developing a contextual physical functioning performance measurement questionnaire that integrates these factors.
Poster Introductions I--Neighborhood Characteristics and Physical Functioning-related Variables in Mid-life Women Living in Rural and Urban Areas in the Midwestern United States
Objectives: We investigated whether higher neighborhood poverty was associated with poorer physical functioning-related health outcomes, including body mass index (BMI), waist size and percent body fat; self-rated physical activity; and performance-based physical functioning, including timed walk, timed stair climb, and timed 2-lb lift in a sample of mid-life women.
Methods: The study sample (n=1156) combines two study cohorts, including Michigan Bone Health and Metabolism Study (n=614) and Michigan site of Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (n=542). Year 1996 participant addresses were geocoded using batchgeocode.com and measures of neighborhood poverty (the proportion of residents living below the poverty line in a participant’s census tract) were obtained from 1990 census data. Multilevel models with random intercepts were justified for two outcomes only (timed walk and 2-lb lift). All other continuous outcomes were modeled using OLS regression. Ordinal logistic regression models were used to evaluate the association between neighborhood poverty and self-rated physical activity (less, the same or more as similar-aged women).
Results: Average (SD) age was 42.8 (1.1) (range 27-53), average (SD) body mass index (BMI) 28.3 (1.3) kg/m2. Seventy-two percent of the sample was white, and 28% identified as black. Women lived in 19 diverse Michigan counties, and participant neighborhood poverty level ranged from 0.7% - 53.7% with a mean (SD) of 16.9% (2.0). Higher neighborhood poverty was significantly associated with higher BMI [β (SE) 0.04 (0.01), p=0.01] and larger waist size [β (SE) 0.03 (0.01), p=0.004] after adjusting for age, race, highest education level completed, smoking status, presence and severity of pain, presence of diabetes and depressive symptoms. Higher neighborhood poverty was also associated with worse self-rated physical activity [OR (95% CI) 1.4 (1.1, 1.9)] and slower timed walk [β (SE) 0.03 (0.01), p=0.02] in adjusted models. A borderline association with slower timed stair climb was also identified [β (SE) 0.04 (0.02), p=0.06]. Percent body fat and 2-lb lift were not associated with neighborhood poverty level in adjusted models.
Conclusion: Our results provide some support for our hypothesis that higher neighborhood poverty was associated with poorer physical functioning-related outcomes after adjusting for individual-level factors, however not all of our hypothesized relationships were significant.
Kristin Tomey is an Assistant Research Scientist at the University of Michigan Department of Epidemiology in the School of Public Health. The focal point of Dr. Tomey’s research is disability and functioning. She has published articles on the nutritional status of disabled populations, as well the relationships between physical functioning and depressive symptoms, inflammatory disease biomarkers, and dietary intake. Her current research interests include the characterization of physical functioning performance as an intersection of individual physical deficits, use of aids, human help, and compensation strategies to bolster performance, as well as the neighborhood and home environment. She is currently developing a contextual physical functioning performance measurement questionnaire that integrates these factors.