American Journal of Public Health, Vol 90, Issue 12 1898-1904, Copyright © 2000 by American Public Health Association

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Excess mortality among urban residents: how much, for whom, and why?

JS House, JM Lepkowski, DR Williams, RP Mero, PM Lantz, SA Robert and J Chen
Survey Research Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48106-1248, USA. jimhouse@isr.umich.edu

OBJECTIVES: The goals of this study were to estimate prospective mortality risks of city residence, specify how these risks vary by population subgroup, and explore possible explanations. METHODS: Data were derived from a probability sample of 3617 adults in the coterminous United States and analyzed via cross-tabular and Cox proportional hazards methods. RESULTS: After adjustment for baseline sociodemographic and health variables, city residents had a mortality hazard rate ratio of 1.62 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.21, 2.18) relative to rural/small-town residents; suburbanites had an intermediate but not significantly elevated hazard rate ratio. This urban mortality risk was significant among men (hazard rate ratio: 2.25), especially non-Black men, but not among women. Among Black men, and to some degree Black women, suburban residence carried the greatest risk. All risks were most evident for those younger than 65 years. CONCLUSIONS: The mortality risk of city residence, at least among men, rivals that of major psychosocial risk factors such as race, low income, smoking, and social isolation and merits comparable attention in research and policy.

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