2004 UC Proceedings Abstract
Neighborhood Deprivation and Premature Mortality in Los Angeles County Track: Health and Human Services Author(s): Aida Angelescu Recent studies suggest that living in a neighborhood cluster of low socioeconomic status (SES), can significantly affect health. This paper focuses on the geographic distribution of material deprivation and premature mortality in Los Angeles County, where population diversity, wide health disparities, and substantial clustering of SES provide a unique opportunity to examine these relationships at neighborhood level. GIS is used to model the spatial correlation between premature mortality, measured by years of potential life lost, and material deprivation measured by Townsend Deprivation Index (composite score of unemployment, overcrowding, car availability, and homeownership). Preliminary findings indicate that premature death rates are higher in materially deprived neighborhoods, and 10% of the geographic variation in premature mortality is attributable to the effect of deprivation. Further analysis will focus on poverty and income disparity as predictors of premature deaths and determinants of health care planning and resource allocation policy formulating. Aida Angelescu Los Angeles County DHS Public Health, OHAE 313 N Figueroa St Los Angeles , CA 90012 US Phone: 213-240-7785 E-mail: aangelescu@dhs.co.la.ca.us |
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