Abstract
Immigrants tend to live in areas with higher co-ethnic density, and the effect of neighborhood ethnic composition could be particularly salient for health. This study explored associations between neighborhood ethnic composition and self-rated health among Asian immigrants. We analyzed data collected at baseline from 670 Chinese and Vietnamese immigrants enrolled in a lifestyle intervention trial. Residential addresses were geocoded and combined with neighborhood socio-demographic profiles based on census data. We used generalized estimating equations to examine neighborhood ethnic composition and self-rated health. Independent of individual-level factors, living in neighborhoods more densely populated by whites was associated with poor/fair self-rated health. Neighborhood household income and density of participants’ own ethnic group were not associated with poor/fair self-rated health. More research is warranted to disentangle reasons why Chinese and Vietnamese immigrants living in white-concentrated neighborhoods reported poorer self-rated health, including investigating effects of discrimination, relative deprivation, and availability of social resources.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 574-582 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health |
Volume | 23 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jun 2021 |
Keywords
- Asian American
- Ethnic density
- Neighborhood effects
- Self-rated health
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Epidemiology
- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health