Community Segregation and Socioeconomic Inequalities

Extensive research has demonstrated that neighbourhood ethnic diversity is negatively associated with intra-neighbourhood social capital. This study explores the role of segregation and integration in this relationship. To do so it applies three-level hierarchical linear models to two sets of data from across Great Britain and within London, and examines how segregation across the wider-community in which a neighbourhood is nested impacts trust amongst neighbours. This study replicates the increasingly ubiquitous finding that neighbourhood diversity is negatively associated with neighbour-trust. However, we demonstrate that this relationship is highly dependent on the level of segregation across the wider-community in which a neighbourhood is nested. Increasing neighbourhood diversity only negatively impacts neighbour-trust when nested in more segregated wider-communities. Individuals living in diverse neighbourhoods nested within integrated wider-communities experience no trust-penalty. These findings show that segregation plays a critical role in the neighbourhood diversity/trust relationship, and that its absence from the literature biases our understanding of how ethnic diversity affects social cohesion.

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Socioeconomic inequalities in distance to and participation in a community-based running and walking activity: A longitudinal ecological study of parkrun 2010 to 2019

Health & Place ◽

10.1016/j.healthplace.2021.102626 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 71 ◽

pp. 102626

Author(s):

Robert A. Smith ◽

Paul P. Schneider ◽

Rami Cosulich ◽

Helen Quirk ◽

Alice M. Bullas ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Ecological Study ◽

Socioeconomic Inequalities ◽

Community Based ◽

Walking Activity

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Time trends of socioeconomic inequalities in adolescent smoking in Okinawa, Japan, 2008–2016: a repeated cross-sectional study

Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine ◽

10.1186/s12199-021-00948-y ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 26 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Minoru Takakura ◽

Masaya Miyagi ◽

Akira Kyan

Keyword(s):

Time Trends ◽

Parental Education ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Socioeconomic Inequalities ◽

School Type ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Japanese Adolescents ◽

Index Of Inequality ◽

Over Time

Abstract Background Smoking among Japanese adolescents has decreased noticeably. However, little is known whether the decreasing trend in adolescent smoking can be seen across all socioeconomic status (SES) groups. This study aimed to examine trends in socioeconomic inequalities in smoking among Japanese adolescents between 2008 and 2016. Methods We conducted a repeated cross-sectional study using data from three surveys of high school students in Okinawa, Japan, in 2008, 2012, and 2016. The study participants consisted of 7902 students in grades 10 through 12 (15–18 years). Smoking was assessed as current cigarette use. SES indicators included familial SES (parental education and family structure) and student’s own SES (school type). To evaluate absolute and relative inequalities, prevalence differences (PDs) and ratios (PRs) between low and high SES groups were estimated. The slope index of inequality (SII) and relative index of inequality (RII) were also calculated. Results Smoking prevalence among boys and girls significantly declined from 11.5% and 6.2% in 2008 to 4.7% and 1.9% in 2016, respectively. Similar decreasing trends in smoking were found among most of the SES groups. The PDs and SII for parental education in boys and family structure in girls decreased over time while those for school type persisted among boys and girls. The PRs and RII for school type in boys increased while those for other SES indicators among both sexes remained stable over time. Conclusions Smoking among Japanese adolescents has been declining and time trends of socioeconomic inequalities in smoking varied by absolute and relative measures. Further policies and/or interventions to reduce smoking inequalities should focus on the context of schools, especially in vocational high schools.

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Socioeconomic Inequalities and Ethnicity Are Associated with a Positive COVID-19 Test among Cancer Patients in the UK Biobank Cohort

Cancers ◽

10.3390/cancers13071514 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (7) ◽

pp. 1514

Author(s):

Shing Fung Lee ◽

Maja Nikšić ◽

Bernard Rachet ◽

Maria-Jose Sanchez ◽

Miguel Angel Luque-Fernandez

Keyword(s):

Cancer Patients ◽

Socioeconomic Inequalities ◽

Uk Biobank ◽

Incident Cancer ◽

Increased Risk ◽

Exposure Variable ◽

Independent Risk Factors ◽

The Uk ◽

Deprived Areas

We explored the role of socioeconomic inequalities in COVID-19 incidence among cancer patients during the first wave of the pandemic. We conducted a case-control study within the UK Biobank cohort linked to the COVID-19 tests results available from 16 March 2020 until 23 August 2020. The main exposure variable was socioeconomic status, assessed using the Townsend Deprivation Index. Among 18,917 participants with an incident malignancy in the UK Biobank cohort, 89 tested positive for COVID-19. The overall COVID-19 incidence was 4.7 cases per 1000 incident cancer patients (95%CI 3.8–5.8). Compared with the least deprived cancer patients, those living in the most deprived areas had an almost three times higher risk of testing positive (RR 2.6, 95%CI 1.1–5.8). Other independent risk factors were ethnic minority background, obesity, unemployment, smoking, and being diagnosed with a haematological cancer for less than five years. A consistent pattern of socioeconomic inequalities in COVID-19 among incident cancer patients in the UK highlights the need to prioritise the cancer patients living in the most deprived areas in vaccination planning. This socio-demographic profiling of vulnerable cancer patients at increased risk of infection can inform prevention strategies and policy improvements for the coming pandemic waves.

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