Greenness and excess deaths from heat in 323 Latin American cities: Do associations vary according to climate zone or green space configuration?

Green vegetation may protect against heat-related death by improving thermal comfort. Few studies have investigated associations of green vegetation with heat-related mortality in Latin America or whether associations are modified by the spatial configuration of green vegetation. We used data from 323 Latin American cities and meta-regression models to estimate associations between city-level greenness, quantified using population-weighted normalized difference vegetation index values and modeled as three-level categorical terms, and excess deaths from heat (heat excess death fractions [heat EDFs]). Models were adjusted for city-level fine particulate matter concentration (PM2.5), social environment, and country group. In addition to estimating overall associations, we derived estimates of association stratified by green space clustering by including an interaction term between a green space clustering measure (dichotomized at the median of the distribution) and the three-level greenness variable. We stratified analyses by climate zone (arid vs. temperate and tropical combined). Among the 79 arid climate zone cities, those with moderate and high greenness levels had modestly lower heat EDFs compared to cities with the lowest greenness, although protective associations were more substantial in cities with moderate versus high greenness levels and confidence intervals (CI) crossed the null (Beta: -0.41, 95% CI: -1.06, 0.25; Beta -0.23, 95% CI: -0.95, 0.49, respectively). In 244 non-arid climate zone cities, associations were approximately null. We did not observe evidence of effect modification by green space clustering. Our results suggest that greenness may offer modest protection against heat-related mortality in arid climate zone Latin American cities.

Spatial data collection and qualification methods for urban parks in Brazilian capitals: An innovative roadmap.

Urban parks have been studied for their effects on health and the environment. Accessing park data from reliable and comparable sources remains challenging, reinforcing the importance of standardized search tools, notably in Latin America. We designed a systematized methodology to identify processes of accessing, collecting, verifying, and harmonizing urban park spatial data in all Brazilian capitals included in the Urban Health in Latin America (SALURBAL) project. We developed a research protocol using official and non-official sources combining the results of Google Maps (GMaps) points and OpenStreetMap (OSM) polygons-GMaps-OSM. Descriptive analyses included the frequency of the distribution of parks before and after harmonization stratified by data source. We used the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) to assess agreement in the area between official and GMaps-OSM data. Official data were obtained for 16 cities; for the remaining 11 capitals, we used GMaps-OSM. After verification and harmonization, 302 urban parks were obtained from official data and 128 from GMaps-OSM. In a sub-study of the 16 cities with official data (n = 302 parks), we simulated a collection of non-official data using GMaps-OSM and OSM only. From GMaps-OSM, we obtained 142 parks, and from OSM, 230 parks. Statistical analysis showed a better agreement between official data and OSM. After completing verification and harmonization, the complete dataset (official and GMaps-OSM) included 430 urban parks with a total area of 145.14 km2. The mean number of parks across cities was 16, with a mean size area of 0.33 km2. The median number of parks was nine, with a median area of 0.07 km2. This study highlights the importance of creating mechanisms to access, collect, harmonize, and verify urban park data, which is essential for examining the impact of parks on health. It also stresses the importance of providing reliable urban park spatial data for city officials.

Perceived neighborhood and fall history among community-dwelling older adults living in a large Brazilian urban area: a multilevel approach.

Few studies have examined the neighborhood features related to falls in the older population in low-and-middle-income countries, including Brazil. This study aimed to evaluate if perceived neighborhood features are related to falls among older Brazilian adults living in a large urban area. This cross-sectional study was conducted using data from 834 participants (≥60 years) from a multistage household survey in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The association between fall history in the previous year and perceived neighborhood features (quality of services, physical and social disorder, and safety) was examined using multilevel logistic regression. The fall prevalence was 13.6%. Older adults living in neighborhoods with a higher physical disorder were more likely to report fall in the previous year, even after controlling for demographic, clinical and social variables (OR = 2.59; 95% CI = 1.14-5.87). The other neighborhood features investigated were not associated with a fall history. Our findings suggest that improving the physical environment represents an important strategy to prevent falls in the Brazilian urban older population.

A multilevel model of life satisfaction among old people: individual characteristics and neighborhood physical disorder.

BACKGROUND: Considering the lack of studies that examine built environmental factors associated with life satisfaction among old people in developing countries, particularly those focused on Brazil, the aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of life satisfaction among old adults residents in a Brazilian urban center and to investigate its association with individual characteristics and objective measures of the built environment. METHODS: A household survey (N = 832) in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil (2008-2009) and a Systematic Social Observation (SSO) was used in this study. Life satisfaction was assessed through Self-Anchoring Ladder Scale, developed by Cantril, in 1965. Participants' answers were categorized as satisfied (rungs 6-10) and dissatisfied (rungs 0-5). A Multilevel Poisson regression analysis with robust variance was performed. RESULTS: The prevalence of satisfaction with life was approximately 82%. Higher prevalence of life satisfaction was significantly associated with old people who reported higher incomes, higher religious participation, who practice physical activity and who perceive their health as good and very good. In contextual level, results showed that when the contextual features were adjusted separately by the individual characteristics they were no longer significant. The results also showed a lower prevalence of life satisfaction among those living in neighborhoods with higher physical disorder, even after adjusting for individual and other contextual characteristics. CONCLUSIONS: The present findings suggest that life satisfaction should be assessed whenever evaluating urban redevelopment programs designed to improve neighborhood characteristics, reducing physical disorder, especially among old adults.

Mortality from Homicides in Slums in the City of Belo Horizonte, Brazil: An Evaluation of the Impact of a Re-Urbanization Project.

Background: Homicide rates in Brazil are among the highest worldwide. Although not exclusive to large Brazilian cities, homicides find their most important determinants in cities' slums. In the last decade, an urban renewal process has been initiated in the city of Belo Horizonte, in Brazil. Named Vila Viva project, it includes structuring urban interventions such as urban renewal, social development actions and land regularization in the slums of the city. This study evaluates the project's effect on homicide rates according to time and interventions. Methods: Homicide rates were analyzed comparing five slums with interventions (S1⁻S5) to five grouped non-intervened slums (S0), with similar socioeconomic characteristics from 2002 to 2012. Poisson regression model estimates the effect of time of observation and the effect of time of exposure (in years) to a completed intervention, besides the overall risk ratio (RR). Results: Using the time of observation in years, homicide rates decreased in the studied period and even more if considered cumulative time of exposure to a completed intervention for S1, S2, S3 and S4, but not for S5. Conclusions: Although the results of the effect of the interventions are not repeated in all slums, a downward trend in homicide rates has been found, which is connected to the interventions. New approaches could be necessary in order to verify the nexus between slum renewal projects and the reduction of homicide rates.

Self-rated health and perceived violence in the neighborhood is heterogeneous between young women and men.

BACKGROUND: Self-rated health (SRH) is the general perception of an individual's own health and a key indicator to measure health in population-based studies. Few studies have examined the association between perceived urban violence and SRH among young adults. There were an estimated 475,000 deaths in 2012 as a result of homicide on the world. Sixty percent of these deaths occurred among males aged 15-44 years, making homicide the third leading cause of death for this population group. This study aimed to determine and quantify the association between sex-specific perception of violence in the neighborhood and SRH among young adults. METHODS: Participants included 955 young adults (18-29 years) residing in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil between 2008 and 2009. Logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the strength of the associations. The perceived urban violence score was constructed from variables that assessed the respondents' insecurity and perception of fear and danger of suffering some form of violence in the neighborhood using exploratory factor analysis. RESULTS: 18,3% of respondents rated their health as fair/ poor/very poor. Among women, fair/ poor/very poor SRH was associated with age between 25 and 29 years, low socioeconomic status score, being dissatisfied with weight, not exercising regularly, not having a healthy diet, and having some chronic disease. Men who rated their health as fair/poor/very poor more frequently smoked, were dissatisfied with their weight, did not exercise regularly, consumed fewer fruits and vegetables, and had some chronic disease compared to men who rated their health as very good/good. In the final model, after adjusting for confounding variables, perceived violence in the neighborhood was associated with poor SRH in young women only (OR = 1.52; 95% CI: 1.04-2.21). CONCLUSION: The results indicate that public and health policies should implement interventions on the neighborhood physical and social environment to improve the perception of safety and have a positive impact on people's health, especially women.

Availability of food stores and consumption of fruit, legumes and vegetables in a Brazilian urban area.

BACKGROUND: The food environment can have an important influence on the availability of and access to food, which plays a significant role in the health of individuals. The goal of this study was to compare the consumption of fruits, legumes and vegetables (FLV) by adults and the availability of food stores in the context of socioeconomic and geographic space connected to basic health units in a Brazilian capital city. METHODS: The study was developed from information obtained through the Risk Factors Surveillance for Non-Communicable Diseases Prevention by Telephone Survey (VIGITEL), using samples from Belo Horizonte from the years 2008 to 2010. A total of 5611 records were geocoded based on the postal code. A score was created based on the weekly and daily frequency of FLV intake of individuals. The coverage area of basic health units was used as a neighborhood unit. Georeferenced data on food stores in the city and neighborhood income were used. RESULTS: As neighborhood income increased, there was an increase in the distribution of food establishments for all of the studied categories. The highest FLV intake scores were observed in areas with higher income levels. CONCLUSION: The highest concentration of food stores, regardless of supply quality, was observed in geographic areas with higher purchasing power and in those where there was a greater concentration of other types of businesses and services, a different pattern from that found in other countries.

Antecedentes: El ambiente alimentar puede tener una influencia importante en la disponibilidad y el acceso a ellos, éste desempeña un papel importante en la salud de las poblaciones. El objetivo de este estudio fue comparar el consumo de frutas, legumbres y hortalizas (FLV) de adultos y la disponibilidad de las tiendas de alimentos en el contexto del espacio socioeconómico y geográfico en el territorio de las unidades básicas de salud en una capital brasileña. Métodos: El estudio se desarrolló a partir de la información obtenida a través de la Vigilancia de Factores de Riesgo para Enfermedades no Transmisibles Prevención de Encuesta Telefónica (VIGITEL), utilizando muestras de la ciudad de Belo Horizonte en los años de 2008 a 2010. Un total de 5.611 registros fueron geo-codificados usando el código postal. Una puntuación fue creada en base a la frecuencia semanal y diario del consumo de FLV . El área de las unidades básicas de salud se utilizó como unidad vecinal. Se utilizaron los datos geo-referenciados de los comercios de venta de comida en la ciudad y el barrio. Resultados: A medida que aumentaba la renta del barrio, hubo un aumento en la distribución de los establecimientos de comida e bebidas para todas las categorías estudiadas. Se observaron las puntuaciones más altas de consumo FLV en zonas con niveles de ingresos más altos. Conclusión: La mayor concentración de tiendas de alimentos e bebidas e mayor puntuación de consumo, independientemente da calidad de los productos ofrecidos, fue observado en las áreas geográficas con mayor poder adquisitivo.