Physical environment and life expectancy at birth in Mexico: an eco-epidemiological study

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Abstract

The objective of this ecological study was to ascertain the effects of physical environment on life expectancy at birth, using data from all 32 Mexican states. 50 environmental indicators with information about demography, housing, poverty, water, soils, biodiversity, forestry resources, and residues were included in exploratory factor analysis. Four factors were extracted: population vulnerability/susceptibility, and biodiversity (FC1), urbanization, industrialization, and environmental sustainability (FC2), ecological resilience (FC3), and free-plague environments (FC4). Using OLS regressions, FC2, FC3, and FC4 were found to be positively associated with life expectancy at birth, while FC1 was negatively associated. This study suggests that physical environment is an important macro-determinant of the health of the Mexican population, and highlights the usefulness of ecological concepts in epidemiological studies.Para indagar los efectos del ambiente físico sobre la esperanza de vida al nacer se diseñó un estudio ecológico con datos de los estados mexicanos. Cincuenta indicadores ambientales con información sobre demografía, vivienda, pobreza, agua, suelos, biodiversidad, recursos forestales y residuos fueron incluidos en un análisis factorial exploratorio. Cuatro factores fueron extraídos: vulnerabilidad/susceptibilidad poblacional y biodiversidad (FC1), urbanización, industrialización y sustentabilidad ambiental (FC2), resiliencia ecológica (FC3) y ambientes libres de plagas (FC4). En regresiones lineales se observó que FC2, FC3 y FC4 se asociaron positivamente con la esperanza de vida al nacer, mientras FC1 estuvo asociado negativamente. Este estudio sugiere que el ambiente físico es un macro-determinante importante de la salud poblacional mexicana, y muestra la utilidad de los conceptos ecológicos en estudios epidemiológicos.

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APA

Idrovo, A. J. (2011). Physical environment and life expectancy at birth in Mexico: an eco-epidemiological study. Cadernos de Saúde Pública, 27(6), 1175–1184. https://doi.org/10.1590/s0102-311x2011000600014

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