The Relationship between Neighborhood Urban Form and Major Non-communicable Diseases in Tehran, Iran

Abstract

In the current century, non-communicable diseases (NCDs), particularly cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer, and chronic respiratory diseases are among the main causes of mortality in all countries. However, little research has been conducted into the complex relationships between the neighborhood-built environment and the risk factors of non-communicable diseases in developed countries. For this purpose, this relationship was examined in 358 neighborhoods of Tehran. The information about disease rates and their risk factors in each neighborhood was collected for 118,000 adult residents based on the results of the second round of Urban Health Equity Assessment and Response Tool (Urban HEART-2). Next, the relationship of the data to 9 indicators of urban form in the neighborhoods and three socio-economic indicators was investigated using covariance analysis and ordinal logistic regression in SPSS and Minitab. The findings suggest that, apart from the effect of the economic and social status of the neighborhoods, some indicators of the built environment such as density, land use, green space, and access to public transportation can also affect the rates of the diseases as well as their risk factors (i.e., overweightness, obesity, and hypertension). As the main cause of many diseases, overweightness was found out to have the highest correlation with the indicators of urban form. In general, it can be concluded that the design and planning of urban neighborhoods may provide a good opportunity for improving urban health and preventing such diseases.