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The Neighborhood Effect Averaging Problem (NEAP): An Elusive Confounder of the Neighborhood Effect

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  • Mei-Po Kwan

    (Department of Geography and Geographic Information Science, Natural History Building, 1301 W Green Street, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA)

Abstract

Ignoring people’s daily mobility and exposures to nonresidential contexts may lead to erroneous results in epidemiological studies of people’s exposures to and the health impact of environmental factors. This paper identifies and describes a phenomenon called neighborhood effect averaging, which may significantly confound the neighborhood effect as a result of such neglect when examining the health impact of mobility-dependent exposures (e.g., air pollution). Several recent studies that provide strong evidence for the neighborhood effect averaging problem (NEAP) are discussed. The paper concludes that, due to the observed attenuation of the neighborhood effect associated with people’s daily mobility, increasing the mobility of those who live in disadvantaged neighborhoods may be helpful for improving their health outcomes.

Suggested Citation

  • Mei-Po Kwan, 2018. "The Neighborhood Effect Averaging Problem (NEAP): An Elusive Confounder of the Neighborhood Effect," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-4, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:15:y:2018:i:9:p:1841-:d:165911
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Mei-Po Kwan, 2018. "The Limits of the Neighborhood Effect: Contextual Uncertainties in Geographic, Environmental Health, and Social Science Research," Annals of the American Association of Geographers, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 108(6), pages 1482-1490, November.
    2. Malia Jones & Anne Pebley, 2014. "Redefining Neighborhoods Using Common Destinations: Social Characteristics of Activity Spaces and Home Census Tracts Compared," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(3), pages 727-752, June.
    3. Cummins, Steven & Curtis, Sarah & Diez-Roux, Ana V. & Macintyre, Sally, 2007. "Understanding and representing 'place' in health research: A relational approach," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(9), pages 1825-1838, November.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Lin Zhang & Suhong Zhou & Mei-Po Kwan & Fei Chen & Rongping Lin, 2018. "Impacts of Individual Daily Greenspace Exposure on Health Based on Individual Activity Space and Structural Equation Modeling," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-18, October.
    2. Yoo Min Park & Gregory D. Kearney & Bennett Wall & Katherine Jones & Robert J. Howard & Ray H. Hylock, 2021. "COVID-19 Deaths in the United States: Shifts in Hot Spots over the Three Phases of the Pandemic and the Spatiotemporally Varying Impact of Pandemic Vulnerability," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-15, August.
    3. Liu, Dong & Kwan, Mei-Po & Kan, Zihan & Liu, Yang, 2023. "Examining individual-level tri-exposure to greenspace and air/noise pollution using individual-level GPS-based real-time sensing data," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 329(C).
    4. Eun-hye Yoo & Qiang Pu & Youngseob Eum & Xiangyu Jiang, 2021. "The Impact of Individual Mobility on Long-Term Exposure to Ambient PM 2.5 : Assessing Effect Modification by Travel Patterns and Spatial Variability of PM 2.5," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-16, February.
    5. Junghwan Kim & Mei-Po Kwan, 2018. "Beyond Commuting: Ignoring Individuals’ Activity-Travel Patterns May Lead to Inaccurate Assessments of Their Exposure to Traffic Congestion," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-20, December.
    6. Yiming Tan & Mei-Po Kwan & Zifeng Chen, 2020. "Examining Ethnic Exposure through the Perspective of the Neighborhood Effect Averaging Problem: A Case Study of Xining, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-17, April.
    7. Jue Wang & Mei-Po Kwan, 2018. "An Analytical Framework for Integrating the Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Environmental Context and Individual Mobility in Exposure Assessment: A Study on the Relationship between Food Environment Exposu," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-24, September.
    8. Jianwei Huang & Mei-Po Kwan & Lap Ah Tse & Sylvia Y. He, 2023. "How People’s COVID-19 Induced-Worries and Multiple Environmental Exposures Are Associated with Their Depression, Anxiety, and Stress during the Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(16), pages 1-19, August.
    9. Zhaoping Hu & Le Huang & Xi Zhai & Tao Yang & Yaohui Jin & Yanyan Xu, 2023. "Quantifying Individual PM 2.5 Exposure with Human Mobility Inferred from Mobile Phone Data," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-15, December.
    10. Siyu Ma & Lin Yang & Mei-Po Kwan & Zejun Zuo & Haoyue Qian & Minghao Li, 2021. "Do Individuals’ Activity Structures Influence Their PM 2 . 5 Exposure Levels? Evidence from Human Trajectory Data in Wuhan City," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-27, April.
    11. Xinlin Ma & Xijing Li & Mei-Po Kwan & Yanwei Chai, 2020. "Who Could Not Avoid Exposure to High Levels of Residence-Based Pollution by Daily Mobility? Evidence of Air Pollution Exposure from the Perspective of the Neighborhood Effect Averaging Problem (NEAP)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-19, February.
    12. Jong Cheol Shin & Mei-Po Kwan & Diana S. Grigsby-Toussaint, 2020. "Do Spatial Boundaries Matter for Exploring the Impact of Community Green Spaces on Health?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(20), pages 1-17, October.
    13. Yoo Min Park & Mei-Po Kwan, 2020. "Understanding Racial Disparities in Exposure to Traffic-Related Air Pollution: Considering the Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Population Distribution," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(3), pages 1-14, February.
    14. Tiina E. Laatikainen & Mohammad Haybatollahi & Marketta Kyttä, 2018. "Environmental, Individual and Personal Goal Influences on Older Adults’ Walking in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-19, December.

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