How neighborhood and socioeconomic conditions affect heart health and lifespan
Area-level Socio-economic Conditions and Individual-level Health and Mortality: Exploring Place-Based Mechanisms and Individual-level Psychosocial Processes
This work looks at how where adults live and personal stressors relate to heart disease risk and early death among U.S. adults ages 25–74.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Utah State Higher Education System--University of Utah NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Salt Lake City, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11251332 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
Researchers will combine long-term survey data from the MIDUS study with linked state vital and administrative records from the Utah Population Database to study adults' health and mortality over time. They will link geocoded residential addresses to area-level measures like neighborhood poverty, employment, and resources while also using individual measures such as mental stress, alcohol use, and demographic factors. Analyses will test whether individual psychosocial processes explain or change how place affects cardiovascular disease and premature death across different regions and population groups. The goal is to identify place-based mechanisms that raise risk so policies or prevention programs can better target high-risk areas.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Adults aged 25–74, especially U.S. residents from diverse neighborhoods, including Black participants represented in the MIDUS oversample and Utah residents included in the UPDB.
Not a fit: Children, people outside the 25–74 age range, and individuals without stable residential records are unlikely to be represented and may not directly benefit.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could pinpoint neighborhood and personal factors that increase heart disease and early death, guiding community-level policies and prevention efforts to protect adults in high-risk areas.
How similar studies have performed: Prior studies have linked neighborhood socioeconomic conditions to heart disease and mortality, and this project uses larger, linked longitudinal datasets to better clarify the underlying reasons.
Where this research is happening
Salt Lake City, United States
- Utah State Higher Education System--University of Utah — Salt Lake City, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Curtis, David Stuart — Utah State Higher Education System--University of Utah
- Study coordinator: Curtis, David Stuart
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.