Measuring the Effect of Place, Socioeconomic Status, and Racism on Coronary Heart Disease: Recent Trends and Missed Opportunities

Purpose of Review This review builds on prior work by Chaix (2009) documenting evidence for coronary heart disease (CHD) and its relationship to both individual and neighborhood attributes, particularly socioeconomic status (SES). Recent Findings Recent findings continue to affirm prior observations that individuals living in high poverty places experience higher rates of CHD after accounting for individual-level factors. These findings are based largely on results from the US, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark. Both SES and geography remain important factors for understanding CHD risk, though there is a need for research to account for racial and ethnic residential segregation. There is also a need to expand this research outside of the few countries where it is routinely conducted.