Ethnic density, immigrant enclaves, and Latino health risks: A propensity score matching approach

Whether minority concentration in a neighborhood exposes residents to, or protects them from, health risks has generated burgeoning scholarly interests; yet endogeneity as a result of neighborhood selection largely remains unclear in the literature. This study addresses such endogeneity and simultan...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social science & medicine (1982) 2017-09, Vol.189, p.44-52
Main Authors: Li, Kelin, Wen, Ming, Henry, Kevin A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adults
Bias
Blood pressure
Censuses
Cholesterol
Density
Ethnicity
Health
Health risks
Health surveys
Hispanic Americans
Hypertension
Immigrants
Latin American cultural groups
Latino
Minority & ethnic groups
Minority groups
Neighborhoods
Propensity
Propensity score matching
Puerto Ricans
Racial composition
Regression analysis
Risk factors
Sample selection
Selection bias
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Summary:Whether minority concentration in a neighborhood exposes residents to, or protects them from, health risks has generated burgeoning scholarly interests; yet endogeneity as a result of neighborhood selection largely remains unclear in the literature. This study addresses such endogeneity and simultaneously investigates the roles of co-ethnic density and immigrant enclaves in influencing high blood pressure and high cholesterol level among Latinos, the largest minority group in the United States. Pooled cross-sectional data that included both native and foreign-born Latinos of Puerto Rican, Mexican, and other origins (N = 1563) from the 2006 and 2008 Southeastern Pennsylvania Household Health Survey were linked to census-tract profiles from the 2005–2009 American Community Survey. Results from both multilevel regression and propensity score matching analysis confirmed the deleterious effect of residential co-ethnic density on Latino adults' health risks over and above individual risk factors. We also found selection bias associated with the observed protective effect of immigrant concentration, which is likely a result of residential preference. •We address the endogeneity from neighborhood selection using propensity score matching.•We examine influences of co-ethnic density and immigrant concentration on Latinos' blood pressure and cholesterol level.•The positive association between co-ethnic density and health risks was confirmed in propensity score analysis.•Neighborhood selection may account for the observed negative association between immigrant concentration and health risks.
ISSN:0277-9536
1873-5347
DOI:10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.07.019