Timing of Neighborhood Exposure and Type II Diabetes Risk: A Developmental Approach Using the Utah Population Database

Lori Kowaleski-Jones , University of Utah

Available research demonstrates substantial intergenerational transmission of diabetes mellitus (DM) risk from parents to offspring, especially from genetic factors. However, there is less information about how family risk combines with neighborhood risk to influence the risk of Type II Diabetes (T2DM). Using data from the Utah Population Database (UPDB), we employ a life-course perspective to model the influence of neighborhood socioeconomic status and family risk of diabetes on the hazard rate of T2DM diagnosis. The UPDB is an unparalleled research resource: it contains longitudinal demographic, genealogical, and medical/clinical information on nearly the entire Utah population, both historic and contemporary. The objective of this paper is to explore the impact of key developmental periods of exposure to neighborhood conditions on T2DM risk. Neighborhood social environment can potentially break the intergenerational transmission of T2DM risk. Using discrete-time hazard rate models, we examine the effects of neighborhood socioeconomic status (NSES) on the hazard of T2DM diagnosis. Preliminary results indicate that the influence of NSES on T2DM risk varies along a continuum of exposure.

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 Presented in Session P5. Health, Mortality, and Ageing 1