Analysis of Vital Statistics by Census Tract

Abstract

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A Century of Census Tracts: Health & the Body Politic (1906–2006)

“…2,11 By the 1950s, census tracts were employed in research on health, fertility, immigration, marriage, social stratification, crime, employment, education, residential segregation, and urban ecology, as summarized in the American Statistical Association's monograph on the Golden Anniversary of Census Tracts, 1956, 2 and the 1955 landmark publication of Social Area Analysis by Eshref Shevsky and Wendell Bell. 11 A major 1959 review paper on BAnalysis of Vital Statistics by Census Tract,^written by Elizabeth J. Coulter and Lillian Guralnick, and published in the Journal of the American Statistical Association, 12 reported on results of a survey of official health agencies Bon the current uses of census tract data with special references to studies of health as related to socioeconomic status.^Results indicated not only strong interest and growing use of these data but also a desire to have census tracts delimited throughout the United States. Looking ahead, the article proposed that census tract data be used to develop a consistent socioeconomic measure that could be used nationwide in order to Bpermit assessment of mortality rates between and within cities and serve to extend considerably an understanding of conditions producing differential mortality^as well as Bhelp in evaluation of other factors in mortality such as air pollution, climate, or the impact of city services.^1 2, pp.…”

Monitoring socioeconomic inequalities in sexually transmitted infections, tuberculosis, and violence: geocoding and choice of area-based socioeconomic measures—the public health disparities Geocoding Project (US)

“…[19][20][21][22][23] These investigations assessed people's risk of TB and later other health outcomes in relationship to socioeconomic conditions of their census tracts, also termed "sanitary areas" because of their utility for public health planning. [19][20][21][22][23][24] One novel insight, as apt now as it was then, is that ABSMs are meaningful data in their own right and should not be conceptualized solely as "proxies" for individual-level data.…”

“…Yet, despite a legacy of over 75 years of linking ABSMs with U.S. public health records, to date there exists no standard for use of ABSMs in public health research or surveillance systems. 17,18,[24][25][26][27] Considering only the recent U.S. literature on STIs, TB, and violence, research has employed an eclectic array of census-derived single-indicator and composite area-based measures, measured at the level of the census block group, 10,[28][29][30] census tract, [31][32][33][34][35][36][37] ZIP Code, 7,[38][39][40][41][42] and larger "community areas," often defined by local health departments. [43][44][45] Single-variable measures used include: poverty rate, median household income, low family income, percent in working class or blue-collar occupations, percent unemployed, percent of adults with less than a high school education, crowding, and value of housing units.…”

Socioeconomic epidemiology: differential determinants in a longitudinal frame work

“…Hence, most research that used an income or economic conceptual indicator of social class shows an inverse relationship with mortality. Coulter and Guralnick (1959) note that many studies use median income or median rent by census tract when establishing social class.…”