Year: 2018
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Credit scores have been identified as a marker of disease burden. This study investigated credit scores' association with chronic diseases and health behaviours that are associated with chronic diseases. METHODS: This cross-sectional analysis included data on 2083 residents of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA in 2015. Nine-digit ZIP code level FICO credit scores were appended to individual self-reported chronic diseases (obesity, diabetes, hypertension) and related health behaviours (smoking, exercise, and salt intake and medication adherence among those with hypertension). Models adjusted for individual-level and area-level demographics and retail pharmacy accessibility. RESULTS: Median ZIP code credit score was 665 (SD=58). In adjusted models, each 50-point increase in ZIP code credit score was significantly associated with: 8% lower chronic disease risk; 6% lower overweight/obesity risk, 19% lower diabetes risk; 9% lower hypertension risk and 14% lower smoking risk. Other health behaviours were not significantly associated. Compared with high prime credit, subprime credit score was significantly associated with a 15%-70% increased risk of chronic disease, following a dose-response pattern with a prime rating. CONCLUSION: Lower area level credit scores may be associated with greater chronic disease prevalence but not necessarily with related health behaviours. Area-level consumer credit may make a novel contribution to identifying chronic disease patterns.
Language: English
Subfield: Health
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Funders: National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Mental Health, National Cancer Institute, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Center for Research Resources, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences
Awards: Cardiometabolic Health in Adolescents of South Asian Ancestry - the CHAriSmA study, Institute for Clinical and Translational Research, Social Capital and Late HIV Diagnosis in the United States, G732325675, Social Determinants of Breast Cancer Survivorship, Research in HIV Intervention: Skills for Underserved Communities and Families, G8734044504, Clinical Research and Epidemiology in Diabetes and Endocrinology, The Johns Hopkins Center for AIDS Research (JHU CFAR), Brown University Community and Clinical Research Training Program, Regional Oncology Research Center, G960972908
OpenAlex ID: W2897968299