Does it matter what you measure? Neighbourhood effects in a Canadian setting

Abstract

Data from 8,032 Manitoba respondents to the 1996/97 Canadian National Population Health Survey were linked to the 1996 census to study whether measures of morbidity, both self-reported and objectively determined, were affected by neighbourhood context. Once age, gender, smoking status, diabetes, body mass index and individual income were added to individual and multi-level regression models, effects of various neighbourhood characteristics were attenuated and significant in relatively few cases. Caution is definitely called for in generalizing from studies based on one or two dependent variables. Weak relationships are likely to lead to contradictory findings with respect to the importance of neighbourhood effects.