Categorizing community type for epidemiologic evaluation of community factors and chronic disease across the United States

Tara P. McAlexander, Yasemin Algur, Brian S. Schwartz, Pasquale E. Rummo, David C. Lee, Karen R. Siegel, Victoria Ryan, Nora L. Lee, Gargya Malla, Leslie A. McClure

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Existing classifications of community type do not differentiate urban cores from surrounding non-rural areas, an important distinction for analyses of community features and their impact on health. Inappropriately classified community types can introduce serious methodologic flaws in epidemiologic studies and invalid inferences from findings. To address this, we evaluate a modification of the United States Department of Agriculture's Rural Urban Commuting Area codes at the census tract, propose a four-level categorization of community type, and compare this with existing classifications for epidemiologic analyses. Compared to existing classifications, our method resulted in clearer geographic delineations of community types within urban areas.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number100250
JournalSocial Sciences and Humanities Open
Volume5
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2022

Keywords

  • Census tract
  • Community type
  • Neighborhood
  • Rurality
  • Urbanicity

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Decision Sciences (miscellaneous)
  • Psychology (miscellaneous)
  • Social Sciences (miscellaneous)

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