Abstract
BackgroundIn this review article, we detail a small but growing literature in the field of health geography that uses longitudinal data to determine a life course component to the neighbourhood effects thesis. For too long, there has been reliance on cross-sectional data to test the hypothesis that where you live has an effect on your health and well-being over and above your individual circumstances.MethodsWe identified 53 articles that demonstrate how neighbourhood deprivation measured at least 15 years prior affects health and well-being later in life using the databases Scopus and Web of Science.ResultsWe find a bias towards US studies, the most common being the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. Definition of neighbourhood and operationalization of neighbourhood deprivation across most of the included articles relied on data availability rather than a priori hypothesis.ConclusionsTo further progress neighbourhood effects research, we suggest that more data linkage to longitudinal datasets is required beyond the narrow list identified in this review. The limited literature published to date suggests an accumulation of exposure to neighbourhood deprivation over the life course is damaging to later life health, which indicates improving neighbourhoods as early in life as possible would have the greatest public health improvement.
Highlights
The idea that where you live can influence your health and wellbeing over and above your individual or household circumstances has been one of the most widely tested hypotheses in the field of health geography since the early 2000s.1 van Ham and Manley[2] have suggested that the research area is at a crossroads, yet it would appear neighbourhood effects research has stalled at a roundabout given the plentiful challenges to the field that require careful navigation. van Ham and Manley[2] suggest at least five methodological challenges, including a plea to researchers to take into account people’s neighbourhood histories
The most common outcome variable, when counting more than one from studies with multiple outcomes, was mortality (18%), followed by weight gain, obesity or body mass index (BMI) (16%), healthrelated behaviours (15%—including smoking, alcohol and food consumption) and mental health (10%—including depression, cognition, psychosis and suicide)
The majority of studies (74%) measured their outcome at a single point in time, whereas the others predicted trajectories in their outcome. Two of the latter studies find a baseline association of neighbourhood deprivation with BMI, but little or no change over time.[28,29]
Summary
The idea that where you live can influence your health and wellbeing over and above your individual or household circumstances has been one of the most widely tested hypotheses in the field of health geography since the early 2000s.1 van Ham and Manley[2] have suggested that the research area is at a crossroads, yet it would appear neighbourhood effects research has stalled at a roundabout given the plentiful challenges to the field that require careful navigation. van Ham and Manley[2] suggest at least five methodological challenges, including a plea to researchers to take into account people’s neighbourhood histories. This paper reviews the current literature on life course exposure to neighbourhood deprivation and its effect on health and well-being later in life Another major methodological hurdle to the study of neighbourhood effects is overcoming selection bias (i.e. the selective sorting of people into neighbourhoods through choice or lack of choice). Progress on overcoming this hurdle has been slow, and the contention that neighbourhood selection is the underlying phenomenon that explains a residual neighbourhood effect remains largely unresolved.[3] Longitudinal data have enabled researchers to overcome this to some extent. The limited literature published to date suggests an accumulation of exposure to neighbourhood deprivation over the life course is damaging to later life health, which indicates improving neighbourhoods as early in life as possible would have the greatest public health improvement
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