Spatial Exploration of the Role of Perceived Neighborhood Safety on Physical Functioning of Older Americans

Keywords: older adults, physical functioning, neighborhood built environment & safety, HSAR, SCCS
Abstract Type: Paper Abstract

Abstract

Neighborhood built-environment has a direct impact on older adults’ perception of safety in the neighborhoods surrounding their homes, which may promote or attenuate healthy behaviors impacting their daily activities and quality of life. Prior studies have suggested the correlation between neighborhood-built environment and health outcomes and yet little evidence is on the role of geographic location in the relationship between perceived neighborhood safety and the physical functioning (PF) of American older adults. PF refers to one’s ability to independently carry out basic physical activities in daily routine life. This study used the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) data for 2016 to explore how the perceived neighborhood safety relates to PF among older Americans. We explored data from California, Michigan, and Florida, to examine whether (or not) the relationship varies by geographic location. Hierarchical Spatial Autoregression (HSAR) analysis is conducted to assess the association while controlling for individual and household-level characteristics. The census-tract boundary is used as the unit of analysis. Spatial structure for sample distribution and separation is measured using a novel approach: SCCS (spatial contiguity and categorical similarity), spatial weight matrix considering proximity dependence (neighborhood relationship) and group dependence (type of neighborhood) simultaneously, to overcome the limitation of the sparseness of surveyed data. The result of this study provides evidence of the importance of geographic variation and the need for location-specific public health interventions to enhance the safety features of the neighborhood built-environment to improve the health and well-being of older Americans.