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Self-reported health in urban–rural continuum: a grid-based analysis of Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966

  • Original Article
  • Published:
International Journal of Public Health

Abstract

Objectives

To evaluate the association of self-reported health with residential area type defined by the population density in individual’s local environment using a population-based cohort in Finland.

Methods

Young adults of the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 (4,201 women and 3,835 men), surveyed by a postal questionnaire in 1997, were linked to population density of their resident grid (1 km2) depicting different types of residential areas. Self-reported health was regressed on residential area type using ordinal logistic analysis, adjusting for psychosocial well-being, social relationships, health behaviour, education and residence time.

Results

Cumulative odds ratios (COR) for poor health were lowest in high-rise centres, highest in scattered settlement areas and second highest in transitional zones. Adjustments (especially for education and time of residence) reduced the CORs to insignificance except the persistently high COR for women in scattered settlement areas.

Conclusion

Poor self-reported health is associated with individual’s residential area type, with the lowest occurrence in high-rise centres and higher elsewhere. The difference is likely explained, at least partly, by a complex of psychosocial factors, possibly different for women and men.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, University of Oulu, PO Box 3000, 90014, Oulu, Finland

    Tiina Lankila & Jarmo Rusanen

  2. Institute of Health Sciences, University of Oulu, PO Box 5000, 90014, Oulu, Finland

    Tiina Lankila, Simo Näyhä, Tanja Nordström, Markku Koiranen & Anja Taanila

  3. Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Aapistie 1, 90220, Oulu, Finland

    Simo Näyhä

  4. Centre for Arctic Medicine, Thule Institute, University of Oulu, PO Box 7300, 90014, Oulu, Finland

    Arja Rautio

  5. Unit of General Practice, Oulu University Hospital, PO Box 5000, 90014, Oulu, Finland

    Anja Taanila

Authors
  1. Tiina Lankila
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  2. Simo Näyhä
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  3. Arja Rautio
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  4. Tanja Nordström
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  5. Markku Koiranen
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  6. Anja Taanila
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  7. Jarmo Rusanen
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Correspondence to Tiina Lankila.

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Lankila, T., Näyhä, S., Rautio, A. et al. Self-reported health in urban–rural continuum: a grid-based analysis of Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966. Int J Public Health 57, 525–533 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-011-0286-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-011-0286-0

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