US Census Bureau reports: Where you live can shape how long you live and how healthy you are along the way — a connection that has been well-documented for years.
To understand and address this connection, policymakers and researchers need better ways to measure a community’s risks. They have increasingly relied on a variety of area-based measures.
[Our findings suggest that where you live is a powerful predictor of serious health conditions and, in many cases, more powerful than income or education level.}
But the question is: which one better captures a community’s social risk across both populations and geographies?
Our new study published in JAMA Health Forum linked U.S. Census Bureau socioeconomic data and electronic health records of more than 2.8 million primary care patients to compare widely used area-based measures of social risk.
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"New Study Information" published on 8.15.2025 from JAMA Network: JAMA Health Forum TM:
- Aubrey Limburg, PhD1; David H. Rehkopf, ScD2,3,4,5,6; Nicole Gladish, PhD2
- et al
Key Points
Question How well do area-based measures of social risk, compared with individual level socioeconomic measures, predict health outcomes and mortality, overall, and by race, ethnicity, rurality, age, and gender?
Findings This cross-sectional study including more than 2.8 million patients evaluated 8 area-based measures of social risk for health and found that the Area Deprivation Index was the most consistent predictor of health outcomes and mortality across different subpopulations compared with other area- and individual-level social risk measures.
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