Defining neighborhood boundaries for urban health research

Area of Science:

• Environmental health
• Urban health disparities
• Public health methodology

Background:

• Neighborhood effects on health are increasingly studied, but defining study neighborhoods remains a methodological challenge.
• Accurate neighborhood delineation is vital for research combining diverse data sources like census data, resident surveys, and observational data.
• The IMPACT study addresses the need for robust neighborhood definition in urban health research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe and evaluate a multistep neighborhood definition process for the Inner-City Mental Health Study Predicting HIV/AIDS, Club and Other Drug Transitions (IMPACT).
• To identify neighborhoods suitable for studying urban environmental features and their association with mental health, drug use, and sexual behavior.
• To collect descriptive environmental data for contextualizing health behavior and outcome findings.

Main Methods:

• Developed census block group maps and reviewed land use and census tract data.
• Conducted field visits and observations guided by pre-identified environmental features relevant to recruitment, boundaries, and health outcomes.
• Integrated multiple data sources to define neighborhoods optimized for data quality and study objectives.

Main Results:

• The multistep neighborhood definition process was found to be feasible.
• The process enabled the identification of appropriate neighborhoods for the IMPACT study.
• Descriptive environmental information was collected to provide context for study results.

Conclusions:

• A systematic, multistep approach integrating diverse data sources is effective for defining study neighborhoods in urban health research.
• This methodology enhances the quality and relevance of neighborhood-level data for multilevel health studies.
• The defined neighborhoods provide a valuable context for understanding the interplay of urban environments and health outcomes.