A new study suggests
that certain community characteristics may affect life expectancy.
A team of researchers
has found that community characteristics may have associations with people’s
life expectancy.
The research,
appearing in the journal Social Science
& Medicine, suggests that authorities should consider taking
these community characteristics, as well as other well-known predictors of life
expectancy, into consideration when making policy.
Relative decline in life expectancy
According to the
study, life expectancy in the United States had been increasing since the
1980s, as in many other parts of the world. However, in 2016, it began a 2-year
decline — the first time this had happened since 1962–63.
While, in absolute
terms, U.S. experts predict life expectancy to grow during the next 40 years,
they expect it to do so at a much slower rate than other countries.
If predictions are
accurate, the U.S. will drop 21 spots in global life expectancy rankings from
its current position of 43rd to 64th, meaning there will be a relative decline
in life expectancy.
In addition to this,
life expectancy varies significantly from region to region in the US, ranging
from 56 to 97 years.
Understanding the factors
for this relative decline in life expectancy, as well as the major variations
across the country, is crucial for policymakers.
Life expectancy factors
Various individual
health issues affect longevity, such as high levels of smoking, low levels of
physical activity, and high levels of obesity. The research in the present
study backed up these findings.
Many other factors
affect life expectancy, such as income inequality.
These factors have
complex relationships. For example, there are differences in mortality linked
to gender; one study found
that state-level factors may affect more women than men.
Dr. Elizabeth Dobis, a
postdoctoral scholar at the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences,
Pennsylvania, is the lead author of the study.
She says, “American
life expectancy recently declined for the first time in decades, and we wanted
to explore the factors contributing to this decline. Because of regional
variation in life expectancy, we knew community-level factors must matter.
“By analyzing
place-based factors alongside personal factors, we were able to draw several
conclusions about which community characteristics contribute most strongly to
this variation in life expectancy.”
Key community characteristics
The present study
focused on how the characteristics of a community, rather than individual
traits, may affect life expectancy. It drew on data from 3,000 U.S. counties,
looking at the variations in life expectancy from a 1980 baseline to 2014.
The researchers
developed a statistical methodology to account for the various confounding
factors that would also affect life expectancy. They tried to give as clear a
picture as possible about the precise effect these community characteristics
might have.
Although there was a
clear relationship between life expectancy in 1980 compared with 2014, there
were some unpredicted variations.
In Dr. Dobis’ words,
“When we controlled for historical life expectancy, we found three additional
community factors that each exert a significant adverse effect — a greater
number of fast food restaurants, higher population density, and a greater share
of jobs in mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction.
“For example, for
every one percentage point increase in the number of fast food restaurants in a
county, life expectancy declined by .004 years for men and .006 years for
women.”
Conversely, the study
found that greater access to health care, a population that is increasing in
size, and high levels of social cohesion were all associated with higher life
expectancies.
Stephan Groatz,
professor of Agricultural and Regional Economics at Penn State, and a co-author
of the study, comments on the findings.
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