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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: AJPH.2006.094912v1 98/1/85    most recent Submit a response Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Digenis-Bury, E. C. Articles by Horsburgh, C. R. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Digenis-Bury, E. C. Articles by Horsburgh, C. R. Related Collections Community Health Epidemiology Socioeconomic Factors Surveillance Surveys Urban Health

Eleni C. Digenis-Bury, MPH, Daniel R. Brooks, DSc, MPH, Leslie Chen, BS, Mary Ostrem, DrPH, MPH and C. Robert Horsburgh, MD, MPH

At the time of the research, Eleni C. Digenis-Bury, Leslie Chen, and Mary Ostrem were with the Boston Public Health Commission, Boston, Mass. Daniel R. Brooks and C. Robert Horsburgh are with the Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Boston University, Boston.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Dr Daniel Brooks, Boston University School of Public Health, 715 Albany Street, T317E, Boston, MA 02118 (e-mail: danbrook{at}bu.edu).

Objectives. We compared the health of public housing residents with other Boston residents through a random-digit-dial survey.

Methods. We used data from the Boston Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System collected in 2001 and 2003 to make crude and demographically adjusted comparisons between public housing residents and other city residents on measures of health status, access and utilization, and health behaviors.

Results. Public housing residents were more likely to report fair or poor overall health status, ever-diagnosed hypertension, current asthma, ever-diagnosed diabetes, obesity, disability, loss of 6 or more teeth, and feelings of depression for 15 days or more in the past month. Public housing residents were slightly more likely than others to be without health insurance or report financial barriers to medical care. Public housing residents reported more smoking and physical inactivity, less past-month binge drinking and past-year marijuana use, and similar levels of lifetime drug use.

Conclusions. Public housing residents reported substantially poorer health than did other city residents across a variety of conditions but similar levels of access to and utilization of health care. Public health departments may be able to use established surveys to measure health among public housing residents.