Social and land use composition determinants of health: Variability in health indicators

Previous studies have shown that a community's socioeconomic status has a significant impact on its residents' health, and that vulnerability in deprived populations expresses itself as variability in health outcomes. The current study adds to this ecological research approach the notion that underlying community vulnerabilities are also related to the physical environment and population growth of a locality. The paper explores the variability in various health indicators in 252 localities in Israel as a function of the localities' socioeconomic status, population growth, and land use composition measures. The results indicate that a locality's socioeconomic status and its land use composition are both strongly associated with various health outcomes and their variability. These findings are of particular interest in light of the fact that the results were obtained from a country with a universal healthcare system.