• Sharrelle Barber, DeMarc A Hickson, Ichiro Kawachi, S V Subramanian, and Felton Earls.
• Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, 7th Floor, Boston, MA, 02115, USA. smb483@drexel.edu.
• J Racial Ethn Health Disparities. 2016 Sep 1; 3 (3): 444-56.

ObjectivesNeighborhoods characterized by disadvantage influence multiple risk factors for chronic disease and are considered potential drivers of racial and ethnic health inequities in the USA. The objective of the present study was to examine the relationship between neighborhood disadvantage and cumulative biological risk (CBR) and the extent to which the association differs by individual income and education among a large, socioeconomically diverse sample of African American adults.MethodsData from the baseline examination of the Jackson Heart Study (2000-2004) were used for the analyses. The sample consisted of African American adults ages 21-85 with complete, geocoded data on CBR biomarkers and behavioral covariates (n = 4410). Neighborhood disadvantage was measured using a composite score of socioeconomic indicators from the 2000 US Census. Eight biomarkers representing cardiovascular, metabolic, inflammatory, and neuroendocrine systems were used to create a CBR score. We fit two-level linear regression models with random intercepts and included cross-level interaction terms between neighborhood disadvantage and individual socioeconomic status (SES).ResultsLiving in a disadvantaged neighborhood was associated with greater CBR after covariate adjustment (B = 0.18, standard error (SE) 0.07, p < 0.05). Interactions showed a weaker association for individuals with ≤high school education but were not statistically significant.ConclusionDisadvantaged neighborhoods contribute to poor health among African American adults via cumulative biological risk. Policies directly addressing the socioeconomic conditions of these environments should be considered as viable options to reduce disease risk in this group and mitigate racial/ethnic health inequities.

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