Min Hee Kim Publishes Article in the American Journal of Epidemiology

Posted: 7/11/2024 (CSDE Research)

CSDE Affiliate Min Hee Kim (Institute for Health Policy Studies, UCSF) published an article in the American Journal of Epidemiology, titled “Mediating pathways between neighborhood disadvantage and cardiovascular risk: Quasi-experimental evidence from a Danish refugee dispersal policy.” While the neighborhood disadvantage is associated with increased cardiovascular disease risk, it is unclear which mechanistic pathways mediate this association, Leveraging a natural experiment in which refugees to Denmark were quasi-randomly assigned to neighborhoods across the country during 1986-1998 and using 30 years of follow-up data from population and health registers, this study applied counterfactual mediation analysis, showing cumulative income (but not unstable employment or poor mental health) mediated 6%-28% of the disadvantage effect on these outcomes. As the world contends with multiple global refugee crises, this study supports the robust income support for refugees settled in materially disadvantaged neighborhoods in protecting CVD health.