An ego-centred approach for the evaluation of spatial effects on health in urban areas based on parametric semi-variogram models: concept and validation

摘要

Neighbourhood in the context of health inequalities comprises a complex mixture of physical, structural, and social factors which cannot be simply defined by administrative boundaries. Neighbourhood is a complex structure but of high relevance for the evaluation of health inequalities. It possesses physical and social attributes for which pathways to health inequalities could be hypothesised [1]. Studying neighbourhood effects on health inequalities is a booming subject in the literature, with the number of quantitative studies increasing since Wilson published his book on inner cities poverty in 1987 [2, 3]. While important methodological improvements have been made in particular the operationalisation of factors on neighbourhood level [1], the operationalisation of the neighbourhood itself remains a challenge [2, 4]. Criticism of the current state of affairs has increased [2, 5] but no solution has so far been proposed. A reason for this may be that there is no unique definition of neighbourhood.