Reliability of perceived neighbourhood conditions and the effects of measurement error on self-rated health across urban and rural neighbourhoods

Background Limited psychometric research has examined the reliability of self-reported measures of neighbourhood conditions, the effect of measurement error on associations between neighbourhood conditions and health, and potential differences in the reliabilities between neighbourhood strata (urban vs rural and low vs high poverty). We assessed overall and stratified reliability of self-reported perceived neighbourhood conditions using five scales (social and physical disorder, social control, social cohesion, fear) and four single items (multidimensional neighbouring). We also assessed measurement error-corrected associations of these conditions with self-rated health. Methods Using random-digit dialling, 367 women without breast cancer (matched controls from a larger study) were interviewed twice, 2–3 weeks apart. Test–retest (intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC)/weighted κ) and internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's α) were assessed. Differences in reliability across neighbourhood strata were tested using bootstrap methods. Regression calibration corrected estimates for measurement error. Results All measures demonstrated satisfactory internal consistency (α≥0.70) and either moderate (ICC/κ=0.41–0.60) or substantial (ICC/κ=0.61–0.80) test–retest reliability in the full sample. Internal consistency did not differ by neighbourhood strata. Test–retest reliability was significantly lower among rural (vs urban) residents for two scales (social control, physical disorder) and two multidimensional neighbouring items; test–retest reliability was higher for physical disorder and lower for one multidimensional neighbouring item among the high (vs low) poverty strata. After measurement error correction, the magnitude of associations between neighbourhood conditions and self-rated health were larger, particularly in the rural population. Conclusion Research is needed to develop and test reliable measures of perceived neighbourhood conditions relevant to the health of rural populations.

[1]  A. Tsai,et al.  Rural-urban comparison of contextual associations with self-reported mental health status. , 2009, Health & place.

[2]  Steven Shea,et al.  Associations of neighborhood problems and neighborhood social cohesion with mental health and health behaviors: the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis. , 2008, Health & place.

[3]  S. Robert,et al.  Subjective and objective neighborhood characteristics and adult health. , 2008, Social science & medicine.

[4]  D. Walton,et al.  Relationships Between Population Density and the Perceived Quality of Neighbourhood , 2008 .

[5]  Arleen F. Brown,et al.  Perception of Neighborhood Problems, Health Behaviors, and Diabetes Outcomes Among Adults With Diabetes in Managed Care , 2008, Diabetes Care.

[6]  L. Gauvin,et al.  Toward the next generation of research into small area effects on health: a synthesis of multilevel investigations published since July 1998 , 2007, Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health.

[7]  Ana V Diez Roux,et al.  Assessing the measurement properties of neighborhood scales: from psychometrics to ecometrics. , 2007, American journal of epidemiology.

[8]  Ming Wen,et al.  Objective and perceived neighborhood environment, individual SES and psychosocial factors, and self-rated health: an analysis of older adults in Cook County, Illinois. , 2006, Social science & medicine.

[9]  L. Råstam,et al.  Spatial clustering of mental disorders and associated characteristics of the neighbourhood context in Malmö, Sweden, in 2001 , 2006, Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

[10]  K. Evenson,et al.  International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity Test-retest Reliability of a Questionnaire to Assess Physical Environmental Factors Pertaining to Physical Activity , 2004 .

[11]  Bruce G. Link,et al.  Reliability of self-reported neighborhood characteristics , 2004, Journal of Urban Health.

[12]  S. Raudenbush,et al.  Seeing Disorder: Neighborhood Stigma and the Social Construction of “Broken Windows” , 2004 .

[13]  I. Kawachi,et al.  Commentary: Reconciling the three accounts of social capital. , 2004, International journal of epidemiology.

[14]  C. Muntaner,et al.  Socioeconomic position and major mental disorders. , 2004, Epidemiologic reviews.

[15]  James F Sallis,et al.  Measuring the environment for friendliness toward physical activity: a comparison of the reliability of 3 questionnaires. , 2004, American journal of public health.

[16]  J. Sallis,et al.  Neighborhood-based differences in physical activity: an environment scale evaluation. , 2003, American journal of public health.

[17]  Stephen W. Raudenbush,et al.  The Quantitative Assessment of Neighborhood Social Environments , 2003 .

[18]  Barbara E Ainsworth,et al.  Environmental measures of physical activity supports: perception versus reality. , 2003, American journal of preventive medicine.

[19]  Jarvis T. Chen,et al.  Geocoding and monitoring of US socioeconomic inequalities in mortality and cancer incidence: does the choice of area-based measure and geographic level matter?: the Public Health Disparities Geocoding Project. , 2002, American journal of epidemiology.

[20]  B. Finch,et al.  Validity of self-rated health among Latino(a)s. , 2002, American journal of epidemiology.

[21]  C. Ross,et al.  Neighborhood disadvantage, disorder, and health. , 2001, Journal of health and social behavior.

[22]  S. Pribesh,et al.  Powerlessness and the Amplification of Threat: Neighborhood Disadvantage, Disorder, and Mistrust , 2001, American Sociological Review.

[23]  K. Pickett,et al.  Multilevel analyses of neighbourhood socioeconomic context and health outcomes: a critical review , 2001, Journal of epidemiology and community health.

[24]  C. Ross,et al.  The Contingent Meaning of Neighborhood Stability for residents’ psychological well-being , 2000, American Sociological Review.

[25]  S. Robert.  Neighborhood Socioeconomic Context and Adult Health: The Mediating Role of Individual Health Behaviors and Psychosocial Factors , 1999, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

[26]  S. Raudenbush,et al.  1. Ecometrics: Toward a Science of Assessing Ecological Settings, with Application to the Systematic Social Observation of Neighborhoods , 1999 .

[27]  S. Robert.  SOCIOECONOMIC POSITION AND HEALTH: The Independent Contribution of Community Socioeconomic Context1 , 1999 .

[28]  J. Sallis,et al.  Assessing perceived physical environmental variables that may influence physical activity. , 1997, Research quarterly for exercise and sport.

[29]  S. Raudenbush,et al.  Neighborhoods and violent crime: a multilevel study of collective efficacy. , 1997, Science.

[30]  R. Hamman,et al.  Self-rated health among Hispanic vs non-Hispanic white adults: the San Luis Valley Health and Aging Study. , 1996, American journal of public health.

[31]  C. Power,et al.  Inequalities in self rated health in the 1958 birth cohort: lifetime social circumstances or social mobility? , 1996, BMJ.

[32]  T. Gärling,et al.  A multidimensional measure of neighboring , 1996 .

[33]  H. Brenner,et al.  Dependence of Weighted Kappa Coefficients on the Number of Categories , 1996, Epidemiology.

[34]  A C Gielen,et al.  Violence by male partners against women during the childbearing year: a contextual analysis. , 1995, American journal of public health.

[35]  J. Carlin,et al.  Bias, prevalence and kappa. , 1993, Journal of clinical epidemiology.

[36]  J. Fleiss,et al.  Intraclass correlations: uses in assessing rater reliability. , 1979, Psychological bulletin.

[37]  E. S. Knowles,et al.  Perception of neighborhoods by city and suburban residents , 1978 .

[38]  J. R. Landis,et al.  The measurement of observer agreement for categorical data. , 1977, Biometrics.

[39]  J. Fleiss,et al.  Statistical methods for rates and proportions , 1973 .

[40]  Jacob Cohen.  A Coefficient of Agreement for Nominal Scales , 1960 .

[41]  Catherine E. Ross,et al.  Neighborhood disadvantage and adult depression , 2000 .

[42]  Robert M. Groves,et al.  Lester R. Frankel (1982) On the Definition of Response Rates: A Special Report of the CASRO Task Force on Completion Rates. Council of American Survey Research Organizations. , 2000 .

[43]  K. McGraw,et al.  Forming inferences about some intraclass correlation coefficients. , 1996 .

[44]  R. Tibshirani,et al.  Hypothesis testing with the bootstrap , 1993 .

[45]  J. Nunnally.  Psychometric Theory (2nd ed), New York: McGraw-Hill. , 1978 .

[46]  J. Abramson.  Epidemiologic Perspectives & Innovations , 2022 .

[47]  C. Mair,et al.  Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences Neighborhoods and Health , 2022 .