School of Social Sciences, University of Southampton, Murray Building 58, Southampton, UK.
Ethn Health. 2011 Jun;16(3):225-44. doi: 10.1080/13557858.2011.561428.
US studies have found that members of ethnic minority groups may have better mental health when they live in areas with a higher concentration of people of the same ethnicity. We investigate if the same effect is found for self-rated health in a population based sample of US Black and Hispanic people.
We used multilevel logistic regression to test whether or not same-ethnic density, measured at the level of the Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), using the US census 2000, was associated with self-rated health amongst 3117 Black men, 4288 Black women, 6253 Hispanic men and 6534 Hispanic women from the US Current Population Survey, Annual Demographic File, 2000, after adjustment.
When ethnic density was modelled as a categorical variable, but not as a linear variable, there was a significant association between ethnic density and poor self-rated health for Black men and women. Relative to those living at same-ethnic densities of 0-4.9%, living at densities of greater than 5% was associated with increased risk of poor self-rated health, with the greatest incremental difference being for relatively small increases in ethnic density from 0-4.9% to 5-9.9% (odds ratio [OR] 1.85, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.16-2.94), with subsequent increases in ethnic density having limited impact. The OR for densities of 10-14.9% was 2.03, 95% CI 1.23-3.34; for densities of 15-24.9% the OR was 2.19, 95% CI 1.33-3.62 and for densities of 25-50% the OR was 2.21, 95% CI 1.28-3.81. For Hispanics there was a significant interaction between gender and same-ethnic density. For women, higher levels of same-ethnic density were associated with a reduced risk of poor self-rated health. Conversely, for men greater ethnic density was linked to an increased risk.
Associations between ethnic density and self-rated health are inconsistent and differ by ethnicity and gender.
美国的研究发现，少数民族群体成员在同种族人口密度较高的地区生活时，心理健康状况可能会更好。我们调查了在基于人群的美国黑人和西班牙裔人群样本中，自我评估健康状况是否存在同样的影响。
我们使用多层次逻辑回归来检验 2000 年美国人口普查中大都市统计区（MSA）层面的同种族密度（以每百万人口中的同种族人数表示）是否与 3117 名美国黑人男性、4288 名美国黑人女性、6253 名美国西班牙裔男性和 6534 名美国西班牙裔女性的自我评估健康相关，这些数据来自 2000 年美国当前人口调查年度人口文件，调整后进行分析。
当将种族密度建模为分类变量而不是线性变量时，种族密度与黑人和女性自评健康状况不佳之间存在显著关联。与生活在同种族密度为 0-4.9%的人群相比，生活在种族密度大于 5%的人群中自评健康状况不佳的风险增加，种族密度从 0-4.9%增加到 5-9.9%时，风险增加最大（比值比[OR]为 1.85，95%置信区间[CI]为 1.16-2.94），随后种族密度的增加影响有限。种族密度为 10-14.9%时，OR 为 2.03，95%CI 为 1.23-3.34；种族密度为 15-24.9%时，OR 为 2.19，95%CI 为 1.33-3.62；种族密度为 25-50%时，OR 为 2.21，95%CI 为 1.28-3.81。对于西班牙裔人，同种族密度与性别之间存在显著的交互作用。对于女性，同种族密度越高，自评健康状况不佳的风险越低。相反，对于男性，同种族密度越高，自评健康状况不佳的风险越高。
种族密度与自我评估健康之间的关联不一致，且因族裔和性别而异。
