Background

Few studies have examined the association of neighborhood environment and mortality among community-dwelling older populations. Geographic Information Systems-based measures of neighborhood physical environment may provide new insights on the health effects of the social and built environment.

Method

We studied 4 379 community-dwelling older adults in the United States aged 65 years and older from the Cardiovascular Health Study. Principal component analysis was used to identify neighborhood components from 48 variables assessing facilities and establishments, demographic composition, socioeconomic status, and economic prosperity. We used a Cox model to evaluate the association of neighborhood components with 5-year mortality. Age, sex, race, education, income, marital status, body mass index, smoking status, disability, coronary heart disease, and diabetes were included as covariates. We also examined the interactions between neighborhood components and sex and race (Black vs White or other).

Results

We identified 5 neighborhood components, representing facilities and resources, immigrant communities, community-level economic deprivation, resident-level socioeconomic status, and residents' age. Communities' economic deprivation and residents' socioeconomic status were significantly associated with 5-year mortality. We did not find interactions between sex or race and any of the 5 neighborhood components. The results were similar in a sensitivity analysis where we used 10-year mortality as the outcome.

Conclusions

We found that communities' economic status but not facilities in communities was associated with mortality among older adults. These findings revealed the importance and benefits living in a socioeconomically advantaged neighborhood could have on health among older residents with different demographic backgrounds.