Neighborhood Poverty and the Resurgence of Tuberculosis in New York City, 19841992
R. Graham Barr, MD, MPH,
Ana V. Diez-Roux, MD, PhD,
Charles A. Knirsch, MD, MPH and
Ariel Pablos-Méndez, MD, MPH
R. Graham Barr, Ana V. Diez-Roux, and Ariel Pablos-Méndez are with the Division of General Medicine, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY. Dr Barr is also with the General Medicine Division, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass. Dr Diez-Roux and Dr Pablos-Méndez are also with the Division of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY. Charles A. Knirsch is with the Division of Infectious Disease, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY. Dr Pablos-Méndez is also with the Rockefeller Foundation, New York, NY.
Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to R. Graham Barr, MD, MPH, Division of General Medicine, PH-9 East, Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, 622 W 168th St, New York, NY 10032 (e-mail: rgb9{at}columbia.edu).
Objectives. The resurgence of tuberculosis (TB) in New YorkCity has been attributed to AIDS and immigration; however, therole of poverty in the epidemic is unclear. We assessed therelation between neighborhood poverty and TB at the height ofthe epidemic and longitudinally from 1984 through 1992.
Methods. Census block groups were used as proxies for neighborhoods.For each neighborhood, we calculated TB and AIDS incidence in1984 and 1992 with data from the Bureaus of Tuberculosis Controland AIDS Surveillance and obtained poverty rates from the census.
Results. For 1992, 3343 TB cases were mapped to 5482 neighborhoods,yielding a mean incidence of 46.5 per 100 000. Neighborhoodpoverty was associated with TB (relative risk = 1.33; 95% confidenceinterval = 1.30, 1.36 per 10% increase in poverty). This associationpersisted after adjustment for AIDS, proportion foreign-born,and race/ethnicity. Neighborhoods with declining income from1980 to 1990 had larger increases in TB incidence than did neighborhoodswith increasing income.
Conclusions. Leading up to and at the height of the TB epidemicin New York City, neighborhood poverty was strongly associatedwith TB incidence. Public health interventions should targetimpoverished areas.
This article has been cited by other articles:
T. P. Flanigan, N. Payne, E. Simmons, J. Hyde, K. Sly, and C. Zlotnick Lessons Learned From a Training Collaboration Between an Ivy League Institution and a Historically Black University
Am J Public Health,
April 1, 2009;
99(S1):
S57 - S60.
[Abstract][Full Text][PDF]
M Baker, D Das, K Venugopal, and P Howden-Chapman Tuberculosis associated with household crowding in a developed country
J Epidemiol Community Health,
August 1, 2008;
62(8):
715 - 721.
[Abstract][Full Text][PDF]
S. Shin, M. Munoz, B. Espiritu, J. Zeladita, E. Sanchez, M. Callacna, C. Rojas, J. Arevalo, Ying Wu, A. Caldas, et al. Psychosocial Impact of Poverty on Antiretroviral Nonadherence Among HIV-TB Coinfected Patients in Lima, Peru
J Int Assoc Physicians AIDS Care (Chic Ill),
April 1, 2008;
7(2):
74 - 81.
[Abstract][PDF]
Ming Wen, C. R. Browning, and K. A. Cagney Neighbourhood Deprivation, Social Capital and Regular Exercise during Adulthood: A Multilevel Study in Chicago
Urban Stud,
December 1, 2007;
44(13):
2651 - 2671.
[Abstract][PDF]
C. C. Leung, T. H. Lam, W. M. Chan, W. W. Yew, K. S. Ho, G. Leung, W. S. Law, C. M. Tam, C. K. Chan, and K. C. Chang Lower Risk of Tuberculosis in Obesity
Arch Intern Med,
June 25, 2007;
167(12):
1297 - 1304.
[Abstract][Full Text][PDF]
E. J. Mueller and J. R. Tighe Making the Case for Affordable Housing: Connecting Housing with Health and Education Outcomes
Journal of Planning Literature,
May 1, 2007;
21(4):
371 - 385.
[Abstract][PDF]
W. P. Myers, J. L. Westenhouse, J. Flood, and L. W. Riley An Ecological Study of Tuberculosis Transmission in California
Am J Public Health,
April 1, 2006;
96(4):
685 - 690.
[Abstract][Full Text][PDF]
K. E. Poundstone, S. A. Strathdee, and D. D. Celentano The Social Epidemiology of Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
Epidemiol. Rev.,
July 1, 2004;
26(1):
22 - 35.
[Full Text][PDF]
A. L. Davidow, B. T. Mangura, E. C. Napolitano, and L. B. Reichman Rethinking the Socioeconomics and Geography of Tuberculosis Among Foreign-Born Residents of New Jersey, 1994-1999
Am J Public Health,
June 1, 2003;
93(6):
1007 - 1012.
[Abstract][Full Text][PDF]
M. Clark, P. Riben, and E. Nowgesic The association of housing density, isolation and tuberculosis in Canadian First Nations communities
Int. J. Epidemiol.,
October 1, 2002;
31(5):
940 - 945.
[Abstract][Full Text][PDF]
J. Krieger and D. L. Higgins Housing and Health: Time Again for Public Health Action
Am J Public Health,
May 1, 2002;
92(5):
758 - 768.
[Abstract][Full Text][PDF]