Residential Racial Isolation and Population Health Across Racial/Ethnic Groups

• In Event: Sociology of Population Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 1. Health Disparities

Abstract

Various studies have shown that residential segregation contributes to worse health outcomes among Black individuals. However, evidence of the effect of residential segregation on the health of other racial/ethnic minorities has produced mixed findings. Though several studies have explored this relationship, they often limit their focus to one or two racial/ethnic groups, examine only generalized health outcomes (such as self-reported health), examine one specific health condition, or differ in the segregation scale they use. These differences make it difficult to compare the effects of residential segregation across groups and the extent to which it impacts health. To address this, this study combines individual-level data from the BRFSS (2015 to 2019) with MSA-level data from the American Community Survey (5-year estimates, 2015 to 2019) and MSA-level isolation scores to investigate the relationship between residential isolation and 11 chronic health conditions and how this relationship varies across four racial/ethnic groups. The findings indicate that MSAs with higher isolation scores increased the risk of stroke, diabetes, and arthritis for Black respondents and diabetes for Latine respondents, but also reduced the risk of several chronic health conditions for all racial/ethnic groups. The results also indicate that, despite the protective effect of racial isolation for White respondents, MSAs with a higher proportion of foreign-born individuals have a lower incidence of 10 out of the 11 tested health conditions. In all, the impact of residential isolation on chronic health outcomes depends on the specific health condition, and these patterns vary by racial/ethnic group. More research is needed to understand the specific mechanisms underlying residential isolation and its role in the etiology of each health condition, and to provide support to at-risk populations.

Author

• Angelica Lopez, Arizona State University-Tempe