Keeping Up with the Joneses: Neighbourhood Wealth and Hypertension

Abstract

Although individuals are known to be affected by concerns about relative position, little research investigates how neighbors’ wealth affects one’s hypertension risks. This paper investigates the relationship between neighborhood wealth and hypertension using both self-reported hypertension and objective hypertension. I find that self-reported hypertension rate substantially underestimates objectively measured hypertension rate. Consequently, while there is a positive, statistically significant relationship between neighborhood wealth and hypertension when using self-reported hypertension, the results based on measured hypertension data differ substantially, with the relationship only observed for people aged 55–65 but not for younger or older age groups. There is also evidence of a positive relationship between continuous blood pressure and neighborhood wealth for adult people (aged 30 or older).