365Wellness: Study shows when housing quality is poor, children suffer
UC expert finds poor-quality housing is independently associated with poor pediatric health
Samantha Boch, PhD, of the UC College of Nursing is the lead author of a new study that finds poor-quality housing is independently associated with poorer pediatric health, and suggests ways health care providers and housing programs may address those findings. The study, published in the Journal of Child Health Care, was the subject of an article published by 365Wellness.
The study found each additional housing problem was associated with 43% greater odds of having a poorer health status.
Samantha Boch, PhD, of the UC College of Nursing/Photo/provided
“It was important, however, to account for other factors that are understood to impact health, and so the study used a modeling strategy that went beyond housing quality alone,” says Boch.
“Even when you adjust for demographic factors like race, ethnicity and disability, and housing-related issues like inability to pay rent or neighborhood safety, poor housing quality has an independent association with poorer health and higher health care use,” she says.
The study also found poor housing quality was independently associated with a greater number of medical visits for children (as were inability to pay utilities, rent or mortgage and living in a nonmetropolitan home).
Lead image/CDC.
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