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People living in poorer neighborhoods at
increased risk for death, worse health risks
HOUSTON – Regardless of an individual's
dietary and lifestyle risk factors, living
in a poorer or more socioeconomically
deprived neighborhood may increase a
person's risk for death, according to data
presented at the American Association for
Cancer Research Conference on Frontiers in
Cancer Prevention Research, held Dec. 6-9,
2009.
Researchers conducted the NIH-AARP Diet and
Health Study and found that people living in
poorer neighborhoods, as determined by U.S.
Census data, reported higher health risks,
including heart disease and cancer, and were
more likely to die sooner regardless of
lifestyle and other risk factors.
"We were expecting that once we controlled
for these lifestyle and medical risk
factors, the differences would go away,"
said Chyke Doubeni, M.D., M.P.H., assistant
professor of family medicine and community
health and assistant vice provost for
diversity at the University of Massachusetts
Medical School.
"We weren't surprised by the unadjusted
differences, but we were surprised that the
differences persisted after controlling for
lifestyle factors such as smoking, diet,
exercise and medical risks."
Previous data have demonstrated that people
from lower socioeconomic groups have poorer
health outcomes. Doubeni and colleagues
prospectively evaluated whether people
living in more deprived neighborhoods have a
higher mortality risk.
Through the NIH-AARP study, they collected
diet, lifestyle and medical history data
from a prospective cohort of 565,697
participants, aged 50 to 71, from six U.S.
states and two metropolitan areas during
1995 to 1996.
Participants' mean age was 62 years, and the
cohort consisted of 60 percent men, 91
percent non-Hispanic whites, 4 percent
non-Hispanic blacks and 9 percent had a
history of cancer.
Results revealed that a larger percentage of
participants living in the most deprived
neighborhoods reported poorer general
health, higher average body mass index and
lower Mediterranean diet scores, meaning
that their diets were unhealthy. After
Doubeni and colleagues controlled for
dietary and lifestyle factors, the risk for
death increased as the levels of deprivation
in the neighborhood increased.
"We, as practitioners, either in the health
care systems or clinics, should be alert to
the needs of people from these backgrounds,"
Doubeni said.
"We need to target public health
interventions to these neighborhoods that
are deprived by improving health resources
and the physical environments in those
areas."
Doubeni and colleagues are currently
evaluating how living in a socioeconomically
deprived neighborhood may influence overall
cancer incidence and mortality, specifically
focusing on colorectal cancer.
###
The mission of the American Association for
Cancer Research is to prevent and cure
cancer. Founded in 1907, the AACR is the
world's oldest and largest professional
organization dedicated to advancing cancer
research.
The membership includes 30,000 basic,
translational and clinical researchers;
health care professionals; and cancer
survivors and advocates in the United States
and nearly 90 other countries.
The AACR marshals the full spectrum of
expertise from the cancer community to
accelerate progress in the prevention,
diagnosis and treatment of cancer through
high-quality scientific and educational
programs. It funds innovative, meritorious
research grants, research fellowship and
career development awards.
The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than
16,000 participants who share the latest
discoveries and developments in the field.
Special conferences throughout the year
present novel data across a wide variety of
topics in cancer research, treatment and
patient care.
The AACR publishes six major peer-reviewed
journals: Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer
Research; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics;
Molecular Cancer Research; Cancer
Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; and
Cancer Prevention Research.
The AACR also publishes CR, a magazine for
cancer survivors and their families, patient
advocates, physicians and scientists.
CR provides a forum for sharing essential,
evidence-based information and perspectives
on progress in cancer research, survivorship
and advocacy.
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