Contextual characteristics associated with the perceived neighbourhood scale in a cross-sectional study in a large urban centre in Brazil

Abstract

IntroductionHealth outcomes have been associated with physical and social characteristics of neighbourhoods, but little is known about the relationship between contextual factors and perceived neighbourhood scale.ObjectiveTo identify the contextual factors associated with self-perceived neighbourhood scale.MethodsWe analysed data from a cross-sectional population-based study in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, that took place in 2008–2009. The dependent variable was perceived neighbourhood, encoded as an ordinal scale based on a brief description of the concept of the neighbourhood, and two independent scales relating distance, expressed in terms of geography and time. Street connectivity, demographic density and residents’ perceptions of the neighbourhoods’ physical and social environment were used as contextual predictors. Individual characteristics were used as covariates. Multilevel ordinal logistic regression models estimated the association between perceived neighbourhood scale and contextual characteristics.ResultsResidents that perceive better walkability (OR 2.96; 95% CI 1.29 to 3.82) and high amounts of violence (OR 1.35; 95% CI 1.12 to 1.62) perceived their neighbourhoods to be larger, even after adjusting for individual characteristics.ConclusionThere are contextual factors that are associated with self-perceived neighbourhood scale. Careful definition of neighbourhood scale is a key factor in improving the results of eco-epidemiological studies. Although these findings must be further explored in other studies, these results can contribute to a better understanding of an appropriate choice of neighbourhood scale, especially for cities in Latin America.

Acesso físico às feiras de orgânicos municipais em favelas de Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais

“…Entretanto, por ser uma área pequena, o setor censitário é capaz de refletir o ambiente do bairro no qual o indivíduo está inserido. 48 Os dados utilizados foram do ano de 2019, então não foram analisadas as mudanças que ocorreram após a pandemia de Covid-19. 49 Por fim, ao avaliar a distância física a ser caminhada entre os estabelecimentos de alimentos e os centroides dos setores censitários, não foram consideradas as dificuldades que podem ser encontradas, como aclives, declives, iluminação, presença de calçamento e questões de segurança.…”

Measuring Neighborhood Order and Disorder: a Rapid Literature Review

“…An example of a study that used this data collection procedure is Oropesa [29]. Other similar studies beyond the scope of our search (due to our restriction to English language publications) include de Almeida Célio, de Lima Friche [30] and Andrade, Peixoto [31].…”

Densidade de estabelecimentos que comercializam bebidas alcoólicas na área residencial está associada ao consumo de álcool em adolescentes?

“…Then, around each point representing a residence, circular buffers of the Euclidean type measuring 200 meters in radius were drawn. The 200-meter range was primarily chosen because the value was more recurrent, repeated in two different studies 12,15 ; secondly, because a study 21 using data also from the study "Saúde em Beagá" identified that for 57.8% of the participants, "neighborhood" was limited to the nearby houses until the end of the block. Within each buffer, establishments were counted by type.…”