Using Satellite Data to Evaluate Linkages Between Land Cover/Land Use and Hypertension in a National Cohort

Using Satellite Data to Evaluate Linkages Between Land Cover/Land Use and Hypertensionin a National CohortBackground:Coincident with global expansion of urban areas has been an increase in hypertension. It is unclear how much the urban environment contributes as a risk factor for blood pressure differences, and how much is due to a variety of environmental, lifestyle, and demographic correlates of urbanization.Objectives/Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between living environment (defined as urban, suburban, or rural) and hypertension in selected regions from the REasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) cohort. Methods: REGARDS is a national cohort of 30,228 participants from the 48 contiguous United States. We used data from 4 metropolitan regions (Philadelphia, Atlanta, Minneapolis and Chicago) for this study (n=3928). We used Land Cover/Land Use (LCLU) information from the 30-meter National Land Cover Data. Results: Overall, 1996 (61%) of the participants were hypertensive. We characterized participants into urban, suburban or rural living environments using the LCLU data. In univariate models, we found that living environment is associated with hypertension, but that after adjustment for known hypertensionrisk factors, the relationship was no longer present at the 95% confidence level.Conclusions: LCLU data can be utilized to characterize the living environment, which in turn can be applied to studies of public health outcomes. Further study regarding the relationship between hypertension and living environment should focus on additional characteristics of the associated environment.Learning Objectives: By the end of the session, participants should be able to: (1) Describe the methodology by which the Land Cover/Land use data were processed;(2) Evaluate the relationship between LC/LU and blood pressure; and(3) Articulate the utility of using LC/LU data to characterize the living environment.