Fabiana Sofia Ricci, Charles K Ukegbu, Anne Krassner, Sanjukta Hazarika, Jade White, Maurizio Porfiri, John-Ross Rizzo
{"title":"Using Virtual Reality to Enhance Mobility, Safety, and Equity for Persons with Vision Loss in Urban Environments.","authors":"Fabiana Sofia Ricci, Charles K Ukegbu, Anne Krassner, Sanjukta Hazarika, Jade White, Maurizio Porfiri, John-Ross Rizzo","doi":"10.1007/s11524-025-00962-3","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11524-025-00962-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study explores the use of virtual reality (VR) as an innovative tool to enhance awareness, understanding of accessibility for persons with vision loss (VL), and acceptance. Through a VR-based workshop developed in collaboration with New York City's Department Of Transportation, participants experienced immersive simulations of VL and related immersive mobility challenges. The methodology included the development of a VR environment, simulations of vision loss, testing with the DOT team during the workshop, and an assessment of changes in participants' knowledge, confidence in addressing accessibility challenges, and overall perception through pre- and post-intervention questionnaires. Participants included urban planners, designers, and architects. Results showed a significant increase in awareness of VL-related challenges that affect design guidelines, as well as improved confidence in addressing such challenges. Participants also expressed strong support for VR as a pedagogical tool, noting its potential for reshaping professional practices, improving capacity building, and enhancing inclusive design. The study demonstrates the effectiveness of VR as an experiential learning platform, fostering empathy and a long-term commitment to integrating VL considerations into urban design. These findings highlight the transformative potential of VR in advancing equity and accessibility in urban environments.</p>","PeriodicalId":49964,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Urban Health-Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine","volume":" ","pages":"655-669"},"PeriodicalIF":4.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12279647/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143517095","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Tiffany H Xie, Monica E Peek, Corey E Tabit, Elizabeth L Tung
{"title":"Moderating Effects of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit on Associations Between Race and Elevated Blood Pressure in Chicago.","authors":"Tiffany H Xie, Monica E Peek, Corey E Tabit, Elizabeth L Tung","doi":"10.1007/s11524-025-00983-y","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11524-025-00983-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>While there is growing awareness of discriminatory housing policies and their adverse impacts on health, little is known about how housing policy may promote health equity. We focused on the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC), the largest affordable housing program in the United States, and examined how living in neighborhoods with LIHTC housing may moderate associations between elevated blood pressure and race/ethnicity in Chicago, IL. A retrospective cohort included 15,339 adult patients at an academic medical center from 2018 to 2019. We used mixed-effects hierarchal logistic regression models to examine elevated blood pressure (diastolic blood pressure ≥ 90 mmHg or systolic blood pressure ≥ 140 mmHg) as a function of race/ethnicity, LIHTC, and race/ethnicity-LIHTC interaction effects, adjusting for patient- and neighborhood-level covariates. A majority were female (63.2%) and non-Hispanic Black (57.6%), with an average age of 50.2 years (SD 19.1). One in ten (9.9%) patients lived in a census tract with LIHTC. Overall, Black patients had 2.52 times the adjusted odds of elevated blood pressure compared to White patients (95% CI = 2.25-2.82). In models examining the moderating effects of LIHTC, the odds ratio of hypertension in Black patients vs. White patients was reduced from 2.62 to 1.52, representing a 67.9% reduction in the difference between Black and White patients. Notably, Black patients, who have been disproportionately impacted by discriminatory housing policies, were the only group found to have moderating effects associated with LIHTC. Housing policies may mitigate neighborhood effects associated with racial disparity, possibly supporting efforts to achieve health equity.</p>","PeriodicalId":49964,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Urban Health-Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine","volume":" ","pages":"520-529"},"PeriodicalIF":4.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12279677/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144327582","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Stephen J Mooney, Cara M Smith, Elizabeth W Spalt, Logan Piepmeier, Amanda J Gassett, Greta Gunning, Jordan A Carlson, Kelly R Evenson, Earle C Chambers, Martha Daviglus, Gina S Lovasi, Pedro T Gullón, Jana A Hirsch, Jesse J Plascak, Andrew G Rundle, Dustin Fry, Michael D M Bader, Joel D Kaufman, Robert Kaplan
{"title":"Built Environment Change over Time Using Google Street View Assessments of Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL) Cities.","authors":"Stephen J Mooney, Cara M Smith, Elizabeth W Spalt, Logan Piepmeier, Amanda J Gassett, Greta Gunning, Jordan A Carlson, Kelly R Evenson, Earle C Chambers, Martha Daviglus, Gina S Lovasi, Pedro T Gullón, Jana A Hirsch, Jesse J Plascak, Andrew G Rundle, Dustin Fry, Michael D M Bader, Joel D Kaufman, Robert Kaplan","doi":"10.1007/s11524-025-00980-1","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11524-025-00980-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Google Street View's historical imagery is a promising data source for measuring neighborhood conditions over time. However, images are not available for all years. To assess bias that may arise due to a mismatch between the year imagery is available and the year of researcher interest, we assessed prevalence of change in 20 commonly assessed built environment features between the oldest and newest available high-quality images (median difference 10.5 years, range from 2007 to 2023) on Street View at 2118 total locations in four US cities representing the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (New York City, Chicago, Miami, and San Diego). Seventeen (85%) of the features were the same in more than 90% of images; only litter differed in more than 20%. Patterns of change were consistent across all four cities and not notably different in tracts with higher or lower median household incomes. For built environment features reflecting sidewalk conditions and disinvestment in neighborhoods not selected for their known rapid change, auditing an image that does not temporally match the time of etiological interest is unlikely to be a major source of bias.</p>","PeriodicalId":49964,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Urban Health-Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine","volume":" ","pages":"670-679"},"PeriodicalIF":4.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12279664/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144227398","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Residential Evictions by Life Course, Type, and Timing, and Associations with Self-rated Health: Social Epidemiology to Combat Unjust Residential Evictions (SECURE) Study.","authors":"Shawnita Sealy-Jefferson, Loretta J Ross, Tamika Anderson-Mays, Kyra Sanders, Roquesha Oneal, JoAnn M Booth, Jacqueline Brown, Swati Mishra, Tiffany N Ford, Kierra Barnett, Shibani Chettri, Chinenye Bosah, Mindy Hoang, Scarlett Bellamy","doi":"10.1007/s11524-025-00977-w","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11524-025-00977-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Few existing data sources quantify the magnitude of court-ordered and illegal residential evictions, among historically marginalized groups. We describe the Social Epidemiology to Combat Unjust Residential Evictions (SECURE) Study (2021-2024; n = 1,428; 91.1% response rate) methodology and participant characteristics. Univariable and multivariable statistics including Spearman correlations were used to describe data. Unadjusted and adjusted modified Poisson regression with robust error variance estimated relative risk (RR) and associated 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) for associations between five eviction measures and self-rated health (SRH), and self-rated health relative to most similarly aged peers (RSRH). A quarter of the participants reported experiencing an eviction as a child (n = 354). Over half of the study sample reported ever experiencing a court-ordered (n = 432) and/or an illegal eviction (n = 360). In the past 2 years, 15.2% of the sample reported experiencing a court-ordered (n = 122) and/or illegal eviction (n = 95). Eviction during childhood, and ever experiencing both court-ordered and/or illegal eviction was associated with between 12 and 17% higher risk of poor SRH, and childhood eviction and ever experiencing illegal eviction was associated with between 34 and 37% higher risk of worse RSRH among reproductive age Black women. More community-partnered research using participatory action research methods are needed to understand and intervene upon the health impacts of residential evictions among disproportionately impacted groups.</p>","PeriodicalId":49964,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Urban Health-Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine","volume":" ","pages":"495-510"},"PeriodicalIF":4.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12279682/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144065179","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jiahui Xiangli, Le Chang, Renzhi Sheng, Ninger Lou, Xu Chen, Juan Tu, Han Lin
{"title":"The U-Shape Association Between Noise and Individual Depression: Nationwide Longitudinal Evidence from Three Waves of CHARLS.","authors":"Jiahui Xiangli, Le Chang, Renzhi Sheng, Ninger Lou, Xu Chen, Juan Tu, Han Lin","doi":"10.1007/s11524-025-00959-y","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11524-025-00959-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Depression is a common mental disorder formed by a combination of various factors. Existing researches have already demonstrated that noise indeed impacts the level of depression, but their results were inconsistent. To reconcile seemingly contradictory findings, this study aims to investigate how noise affects individual depression using big data mining and analysis techniques. The individual data was obtained from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) over 3 years (2013, 2015, and 2018) totaling 9693 participants coming from 125 different cities. The Chinese version of the 10-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) was employed to assess depression scores, while the search index for noise-related keywords was obtained from Baidu Index to measure noise levels across different cities. A curvilinear model with fixed effects was applied to analyze the relationship between noise and depression. Additionally, moderating effect analyses were conducted to examine the influence of city size and green space. The results indicate a U-shaped relationship between depression and noise, wherein depression initially decreases with increased noise, then subsequently rises. The moderating effect analysis suggests that both city size and green space influence this U-shaped curve; notably, in cities with larger populations or higher green coverage rates, the curve flattens. This study reveals that the impact of noise on depression is complex, which is the result of a multifactorial synergy. It underscores the necessity for urban planning and management to prioritize the creation of friendly sound environments, which could enhance the physical and mental health of urban residents.</p>","PeriodicalId":49964,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Urban Health-Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine","volume":" ","pages":"593-603"},"PeriodicalIF":4.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12279683/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143400580","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Emmy Tiderington, Nora Sullivan, Michael Yedidia, Joel C Cantor
{"title":"Improving Cross-Sector Collaborations between Healthcare and Housing: Challenges and Strategies Identified by Unhoused People with Complex Health Needs.","authors":"Emmy Tiderington, Nora Sullivan, Michael Yedidia, Joel C Cantor","doi":"10.1007/s11524-025-00966-z","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11524-025-00966-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>There is growing recognition of the need for collaboration between the healthcare and housing sectors to address the needs of people experiencing homelessness. This study explores how these cross-sector collaborations can be improved from the perspective of those with histories of homelessness and complex health needs. In-depth, semi-structured qualitative interviews (N = 23) were used to (1) understand the challenges faced by people with complex health needs when navigating services at the intersection of healthcare and housing and (2) identify strategies for improving these services. While some participants reported accessing cross-sector services, many found those efforts to be lacking and ineffective. Participants reported receiving support with healthcare needs from housing providers more frequently than assistance with housing needs from healthcare providers. They described challenges related to provider turnover, perceived stigma and discrimination, and insufficient resources. Proposed solutions included modernizing and centralizing care, providing an effective balance of in-person and virtual offerings with an emphasis on in-person services, and improving provider sensitivity to reduce stigma against service recipients. These findings align with existing research on cross-sector collaborations in other fields and highlight the need for comprehensive, compassionate care tailored to the unique needs of people experiencing homelessness. The study also underscores the urgent need for more effective implementation and evaluation of these cross-sector efforts to improve outcomes for this vulnerable population.</p>","PeriodicalId":49964,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Urban Health-Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine","volume":" ","pages":"530-539"},"PeriodicalIF":4.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12279652/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143702053","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nick Kerman, Marcos Sanches, Sean A Kidd, Vicky Stergiopoulos
{"title":"Programmatic, Environmental, and Temporal Predictors of Violence, Overdose, and Self-Injury in Homeless Shelters in Toronto, Canada, 2012-2021.","authors":"Nick Kerman, Marcos Sanches, Sean A Kidd, Vicky Stergiopoulos","doi":"10.1007/s11524-025-00984-x","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11524-025-00984-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>People experiencing homelessness have high rates of violent victimization, overdose, suicidality, and non-suicidal self-injury. These health-related critical incidents contribute to high mortality rates among homeless populations, making their prevention a critical public health goal. The objective of this study was to identify trends and correlates of physical violence, overdose, and self-injury in homeless shelters in Toronto, Canada. A retrospective study was conducted using administrative data on health-related critical incidents in Toronto's shelter system from 2012 to 2021. Log-linked negative binomial regression models were fitted to (a) predict physical violence, overdose, and self-injury incident counts during the study period by year, season, and pandemic onset, and (b) examine programmatic, environmental, and temporal correlates of these outcomes, with separate analyses performed for the pre-pandemic and pandemic periods. Shelter-based physical violence (incidence rate ratio [IRR] 1.08; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.06-1.11), overdose (IRR 1.20; CI 1.13-1.26), and self-injury (IRR 1.16; CI 1.11-1.21) incidents increased over the study period, with the rates of the increases for violence (IRR 1.10; CI 1.00-1.20) and overdoses (IRR 1.66; CI 1.48-1.86) intensifying during the COVID-19 pandemic. Larger congregate shelters had higher rates of violence, overdose, and self-injury, whereas shelter-based hotels had lower incident rates. Critical incidents were also higher during the winter, and there was an increased rate of overdoses during cheque week. The development of smaller shelters that offer greater privacy to service users warrants further examination to advance safety in shelter settings. Increasing access to naloxone and other substance use supports, especially during check week, is also recommended for reducing drug-related harms.</p>","PeriodicalId":49964,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Urban Health-Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine","volume":" ","pages":"564-575"},"PeriodicalIF":4.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12279666/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144250513","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sullaiman Fullah, Dora Vangahun, Ibrahim Gandi, Sia Morenike Tengbe, Braima Koroma, Samira Sesay, Eliud Kibuchi, Rajith W D Lakshman, Ibrahim Juldeh Sesay, Abu Conteh, Samuel Saidu, Helen Elsey, Zahidul Quayyum, Bintu Mansaray, Lana Whittaker, Neele Wiltgen Georgi, Motto Nganda, Rachel Tolhurst, Noemia Teixeira de Siqueira Filha
{"title":"The Economic Burden of Healthcare Utilization: Findings from a Health and Well-Being Survey in Informal Settlements of Freetown, Sierra Leone.","authors":"Sullaiman Fullah, Dora Vangahun, Ibrahim Gandi, Sia Morenike Tengbe, Braima Koroma, Samira Sesay, Eliud Kibuchi, Rajith W D Lakshman, Ibrahim Juldeh Sesay, Abu Conteh, Samuel Saidu, Helen Elsey, Zahidul Quayyum, Bintu Mansaray, Lana Whittaker, Neele Wiltgen Georgi, Motto Nganda, Rachel Tolhurst, Noemia Teixeira de Siqueira Filha","doi":"10.1007/s11524-025-00960-5","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11524-025-00960-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The fragile health system in Sierra Leone undermines healthcare, leading to substantial patient costs. We aimed to estimate the economic burden and inequalities in healthcare in urban informal settlements in Freetown, Sierra Leone. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in three informal settlements in Freetown in April and May 2023 to collect data on healthcare usage within and outside the boundaries of the informal settlements. Catastrophic expenditures were estimated using the payer's household budget. Logistic regression explored socioeconomic characteristics associated with catastrophic expenditures. Inequalities in healthcare expenditures were assessed through concentration curves and indices. A total of 2575 participants reported healthcare utilization. Dwarzark (US$6.9) and Moyiba (US$7.1) had higher costs than Cockle Bay (US$5.5) when utilizing healthcare within the communities. Households incurred higher costs when seeking healthcare outside their informal settlements than within (US$14 vs US$ 7). Over half of the households across the settlements incurred catastrophic expenditures when seeking care outside the communities (57%), with the poorest wealth quintile (poorest, 89%; wealthier, 12%) incurring in higher incidence. Attending informal healthcare had a protective effect against catastrophic expenditure for healthcare within the communities. Age + 35, residence in Dwarzark and Moyiba, and length of residence + 4 years were associated with catastrophic expenditures. Healthcare expenditure was progressive in Dwarzark and equally distributed across wealth quintiles in the other communities. Our findings indicate the need to provide accessible, affordable, and good-quality healthcare within communities to alleviate the catastrophic costs of healthcare utilization. The regulation of informal health providers and their integration into the formal health system should be considered.</p>","PeriodicalId":49964,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Urban Health-Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine","volume":" ","pages":"692-712"},"PeriodicalIF":4.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12279625/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143587762","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Musa Hussain, Nashmia Khan, Grace Morton, Elana Kieffer, Ann Kurth
{"title":"From Vulnerability to Strength: Transforming Health Systems for Climate Resilience.","authors":"Musa Hussain, Nashmia Khan, Grace Morton, Elana Kieffer, Ann Kurth","doi":"10.1007/s11524-025-00972-1","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11524-025-00972-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In the face of escalating climate-related challenges, the resilience of healthcare systems is paramount. As was seen during COVID-19, the climate crisis exemplifies the critical need for a resilient workforce and robust healthcare infrastructure amidst increasing impacts including infrastructure disruptions, rising costs, and exacerbated health disparities. Structurally vulnerable communities, particularly those of color, face disproportionate exposure to climate risks, highlighting the urgent need for equitable resilience strategies. A focus on multifaceted approaches to fortifying healthcare systems against climate change includes emphasizing decarbonization, adaptability, data-driven planning, and support of sustainable infrastructure and health workers. The importance of integrating climate awareness into clinical and public health practices is underscored, promoting proactive measures and community engagement. Strategies to mitigate carbon footprint and enhance healthcare delivery can be enacted including with some federal and philanthropic funding support. This comprehensive approach ensures that healthcare systems remain robust, equitable, and responsive in the face of ongoing and future climate crisis challenges.</p>","PeriodicalId":49964,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Urban Health-Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine","volume":" ","pages":"680-691"},"PeriodicalIF":4.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12279622/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143781570","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Spatiotemporal Analysis of Fentanyl-Associated Overdose Deaths in Chicago, IL, USA.","authors":"Hyojung Kang, Kaylee Janakos, Csaba Varga","doi":"10.1007/s11524-025-00986-9","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11524-025-00986-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Overdose deaths involving fentanyl represent a major public health crisis in the USA. This study investigates the spatiotemporal dynamics of fentanyl-involved deaths before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic and examines how sociodemographic factors influence these deaths across geographic regions. Using a retrospective ecological approach, we analyzed data on ZIP code-level fentanyl-related deaths in Cook County, IL, between 2018 and 2023, obtained from the Medical Examiner's Office and linked with sociodemographic data from the American Community Survey. We first mapped area-level death rates to assess their distribution and then conducted global and local clustering analyses to identify spatial autocorrelations and the locations of high- or low-death-rate areas. A geographically weighted Poisson regression (GWPR) model evaluated the associations between area-level fentanyl-related death rates and the area-level proportion of young adults, males, and individuals with at least a college degree, disability rate, and poverty rate. Spatial analyses found stronger spatial autocorrelations during (2020-2021) and after (2022-2023) the pandemic. Initially, high death rates were concentrated in the downtown area of Chicago, and they expanded to the surrounding areas during and after the pandemic. The GWPR model revealed that an increase in the area-level proportions of poverty, disability, and young adult residents increased the fentanyl-related death rates in most of the areas. Our findings highlight the urgent need to address the evolving dynamics of fentanyl-related overdoses through tailored public health interventions that account for the unique socioeconomic determinants of different regions. Importantly, a comprehensive approach to addressing differences in overdose death rates and their risk factors will be crucial to mitigating this public health crisis.</p>","PeriodicalId":49964,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Urban Health-Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine","volume":" ","pages":"627-639"},"PeriodicalIF":4.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12279617/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144235749","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}