Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
955121 Social Science & Medicine 2006 10 Pages PDF
Abstract

This study investigated the association between the recently minted concept of linking social capital and incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD). A follow-up study of 1,358,932 men and 1,446,747 women in Sweden aged 45–74 years was conducted between 1 January 1998 and 31 December 1999. Neighbourhood linking social capital was conceptualised as proportions of individuals voting in local government elections at neighbourhood level. The neighbourhood- and individual-level factors were analysed within a multilevel framework. Linking social capital was associated with CHD in both men and women beyond individual-level factors: in neighbourhoods with low linking social capital the odds ratios were 1.19 (CI=1.14–1.24) and 1.29 (CI=1.21–1.38) for men and women, respectively, after adjustment for age, country of birth, education, marital status, and housing tenure. The significant between-neighbourhood variance (i.e. the random intercept) showed significant differences in CHD incidence between neighbourhoods. Even in a relatively egalitarian society, as exemplified by the Swedish Welfare State, individual health is affected by differences between neighbourhoods in linking social capital. The use of linking social capital represents a novel conceptual advance in research on the association between CHD, one of the major causes of death in Western countries, and the multidimensional aspects of social capital.

Related Topics
Health Sciences Medicine and Dentistry Public Health and Health Policy
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