Journal of urban health : bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine
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In this study of low-income Hispanic/Latino adults living in 291 individual apartments in the Bronx, New York, the apartment layout was significantly associated with the odds of depressive symptomology. Women living in apartments in which the most central rooms were the living, dining, or kitchen (i.e., rooms commonly used for communal activities) were less likely to have depressive symptomology (OR = 0.44, 95% CI = 0.22-0.86) than women in apartments where the central rooms were lobbies or corridors, adjusting for demographics, health conditions, and housing and neighborhood characteristics. ⋯ We present the logic underlying the use of layout variables in this study and discuss the implications it may have for understanding the role of the home environment on psychological distress among inhabitants. The results of this study show how space syntax analysis can be used to better understanding disparities in the risk of depression and offer an additional opportunity for public health stakeholders to identify those most at risk for depression.
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Universal access to health care requires service availability and accessibility for those most in need of maternal and child health services. Women often bypass facilities closest to home due to poor quality. Few studies have directly linked individuals to facilities where they sought maternal and child health services and examined the role of distance and quality on this facility choice. ⋯ Both poor and non-poor women bypassed to higher quality facilities. Our findings suggest that women in five cities in Kenya prefer public hospitals and are willing to travel further to obtain services at public hospitals, possibly related to free service availability. Over time, it will be important to examine service quality and availability in public sector facilities with reduced or eliminated user fees, and whether it lends itself to a continuum of care where women can visit one facility for multiple services reducing travel burden.
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Sexual violence (SV) is common; however, the prevalence of SV and its long term sequela vary geographically and among subpopulations within the USA. As such, the aims of this study are the following: (1) to determine the prevalence of SV, (2) to identify correlates of SV, and (3) to determine if SV is associated with depression among male and female risky drug users in urban Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) in Los Angeles. This study includes adult patients of five urban FQHCs who self-reported risky drug use. ⋯ These data demonstrate that sexual violence is prevalent in this urban FQHC population and is strongly associated with depression. Providers should consider screening both men and women with risky drug use for SV while health systems should continue to align mental health and primary care services to appropriately care for these extremely vulnerable patients. Trial Registration Clinical Trials. gov ID NCT01942876, Protocol ID DESPR DA022445, http://www.clinicaltrials.gov.