Kaplan G A
Human Population Laboratory, California Department of Health Services, Berkeley 94704, USA.
Int J Health Serv. 1996;26(3):507-19. doi: 10.2190/4CUU-7B3G-G4XR-0K0B.
While a substantial body of evidence demonstrates a strong association between socioeconomic variables and health outcomes, most analyses conceptualize socioeconomic status as an individual characteristic. This article argues for an expanded view that focuses on the relationship between social class and characteristics of the neighborhood and communities in which people live, and illustrates how these characteristics can provide some new directions for research relating class and health. Using the Alameda County Study, the author presents three analyses that support this view. They indicate that socioenvironmental characteristics of areas are importantly related to the mortality experience of individuals, independent of characteristics of the individuals, and that personal and socioenvironmental risk factors cluster together in areas of low income and high mortality. Studying the balance of demands and resources in areas may help to unravel some of the pathways that link social class and health.
虽然大量证据表明社会经济变量与健康结果之间存在紧密联系，但大多数分析将社会经济地位概念化为个体特征。本文主张一种更广泛的观点，该观点关注社会阶层与人们居住的邻里及社区特征之间的关系，并阐述了这些特征如何能为有关阶层与健康的研究提供一些新方向。作者利用阿拉米达县研究进行了三项分析来支持这一观点。这些分析表明，地区的社会环境特征与个体的死亡率密切相关，独立于个体特征之外，而且个人和社会环境风险因素在低收入和高死亡率地区聚集在一起。研究地区需求与资源的平衡可能有助于揭示一些将社会阶层与健康联系起来的途径。
