Phantom of the area: Poverty-area residence and mortality in the United States

Objectives. The purpose of the study was to conduct a national multivariate analysis on poverty-area residence and mortality in the United States. Methods. Proportional hazards analyses were performed of the effect of poverty-area residence on the risk of mortality among adult examinees in the 1971 through 1974 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey who were followed through 1987. Results. Poverty-area residence was associated with significantly elevated risk of all-cause mortality (rare ratio = 1.78, 95% confidence interval = 1.33, 2.38) and some cause-specific mortality among those aged 25 through 54 years, but not among those aged 55 through 74 years, at baseline after adjustment for several individual and household characteristics. Conclusions. Residence in poverty areas contributes to socioeconomic gradients in mortality among nonelderly adults in the United States.