STUDY OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether neighbourhood characteristics are related to dietary patterns independently of individual level variables. DESIGN: A cross sectional analysis of the relation between neighbourhood median household income and food and nutrient intakes, before and after adjustment for individual level variables. SETTING: Four United States communities (Washington Co, MD; Suburban Minneapolis, MN; Forsyth… Continue reading Neighbourhood differences in diet: The Atherosclerosis risk in communities (ARIC) study

Abstract Urbanization is high and growing in low- and middle-income countries, but intraurban variations in adult health have been infrequently examined. We used spatial analysis methods to investigate spatial variation in total, cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, and neoplasm adult mortality in Buenos Aires, Argentina, a large city within a middle-income country in Latin America. Conditional… Continue reading Intraurban Variations in Adult Mortality in a Large Latin American City

BACKGROUND: Few studies have examined how the longitudinal change in blood pressure associated with aging differs across social groups within industrialized countries. METHODS AND RESULTS: Data from the Atherosclerosis Risk In Communities Study were used to investigate differences in the incidence of hypertension and in aging-related changes in blood pressure by neighborhood and individual socioeconomic… Continue reading Socioeconomic disadvantage and change in blood pressure associated with aging

Traditional study designs, such as individual-level studies and ecological studies, are unable to simultaneously examine the effects of individual-level and group-level factors on risk of disease. Multilevel analysis overcomes this limitation by allowing the simultaneous investigation of factors defined at multiple levels. Areas in which multilevel modeling can be applied to sexually transmitted infection (STI)… Continue reading Multilevel Analysis of Infectious Diseases

Over the past few years there has been growing interest in considering factors defined at multiple levels in public health research. Multilevel analysis has emerged as one analytical strategy that may partly address this need, by allowing the simultaneous examination of group-level and individual-level factors. This paper reviews the rationale for using multilevel analysis in… Continue reading Multilevel analysis in public health research

Multilevel analysis has recently emerged as a useful analytical technique in several fields, including public health and epidemiology. This glossary defines key concepts and terms used in multilevel analysis.