The neighborhood children reside in has a noticeable impact on their opportunities for pediatric primary care access.
Children in high opportunity neighborhoods have significantly better health outcomes compared to children in low opportunity neighborhoods, according to a new study published by JAMA Network.
For the study, researchers from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia examined the association between the neighborhood in which a child resides—measured using the Childhood Opportunity Index (COI)—and their preventive care access and well-being outcomes. The COI measures a range of factors across three domains, including education, health and environment, and social and economic context.
The analysis included 338,277 children ages 0-19 from a pediatric primary care network. Of the total children, 81,739 lived in neighborhoods with very low COI levels; 36,266 children lived in neighborhoods with moderate levels; and 130,361 children lived in neighborhoods with very high levels.
The findings indicated that children who lived in neighborhoods with higher childhood opportunity levels had significantly more favorable outcomes, including higher rates of up-to-date preventive visits and vaccinations, lower rates of obesity, and lower rates of screening positive for adolescent and maternal depression and suicidality.
Based on the COI levels researchers measured, they found that:
- Living in a very high opportunity neighborhood offered 40 percent higher odds of being up to date on preventive care and 77 percent higher odds of being up to date on vaccinations.
- Residing in a very high opportunity neighborhood was also associated with 45 percent lower odds of having obesity.
- Children from very high opportunity neighborhoods had 22 percent lower odds of screening positive for depression and 21 percent lower odds for suicidality compared to children from very low opportunity neighborhoods.
- Mothers of newborns and infants who lived in very high opportunity neighborhoods had 22 percent lower odds of screening positive for maternal depression and 29 percent lower odds for maternal suicidality compared to those from very low opportunity neighborhoods.
“The findings underscore the potential value for pediatric health systems in using data on neighborhood opportunity to identify geographic areas and populations that need additional support, to advocate for neighborhood investments and interventions, to innovate and offer low-barrier preventive care and supportive ancillary services, and to develop partnerships with community groups to promote child well-being,” wrote researchers. “These results also underscore the importance of improving access to pediatric preventive care in low COI communities.”