Associations of neighborhood area level deprivation with the metabolic syndrome and inflammation among middle- and older- age adults

BACKGROUND The study examines the association of neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation and metabolic syndrome with inflammation. METHODS The analysis included 19, 079 black and white participants from the REasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke Study who were age > 45 years at baseline. Logistic regression examined whether neighborhood deprivation was associated with increased odds of METS and CRP-MetS. RESULTS Among black adults, residing in the most deprived neighborhoods was associated with increased odds of obesity (p < .01), lower HDL (p < .001), high blood pressure (p < .01), elevated fasting glucose (p < .001), inflammation (p < .01), and CRP-MetS (p < .001). Among white adults, neighborhood deprivation was associated with higher waist circumference (p < .001), lower HDL (p < .001), higher triglycerides (p < .01), higher glucose (p < .001), higher BMI (p < .0001), higher blood pressure (p = .01), METS (p < .001), inflammation (p < .01) and CRP-MetS (p < .001). CONCLUSIONS These findings highlight the role of neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation on METS and CRP-MetS for black and white adults. Interventions tailored to address the contextual effects of deprived neighborhoods may reduce the observed neighborhood disparities.