112Neighbourhood environment and health-related quality of life, Limassol, Cyprus

Abstract

Abstract Background The extent and magnitude of socio-geographical inequalities in health in Cyprus is not clear as neither “place” nor “health inequalities” feature on the public health agenda. Methods In the context of a wider Neighbourhood Environment and Health programme, the magnitude of inequality in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among Limassol citizens was explored in a door-to-door SF-36 survey of residents aged 45-64 (N = 450, 50:50 gender quota) across 45 randomly selected neighbourhoods stratified by socio-economic disadvantage and profiled using a culturally-adapted Systematic Social Observation neighbourhood audit tool. Results The social gradient was steeper for physical than mental component scores of HRQoL irrespective of the indicator of social position. Education and income captured the gradient better in women, and occupational-based social class in men, with large effect (0.7-1 SD) on the SF-36 scale at opposite ends of the continuum. Lower HRQoL and more adverse health behaviours observed in disadvantaged neighborhoods according to census area-level measures and neighbourhood audit profiles, with generally larger differences in women. Conclusions This study profiled the variability in the urban neighbourhood environment,and documented the magnitude of social gradient in health and health-related quality of life in a representative sample of late working-life population in Cyprus. Key messages Social gradient in health behaviours and quality of life in late working-life Cypriot population. Gradient apparent in both men and women across individual and neighborhood measures of social position.