UCSF

Few studies have evaluated environmental factors that predict survival to old age. Our study included 913 African American participants in the Jackson Heart Study (JHS) who resided in the tri-county area of the Jackson, MS metropolitan area and were 65-80 years at baseline. Participants were followed from 2000 through 2019 for the outcome of survival to 85 years old. We evaluated each of the following census tract-level measures of the social/physical environment as exposures: socioeconomic status, cohesion, violence, disorder, healthy food stores, residential land use, and walkability. We assessed mediation by physical activity and chronic conditions. As a complementary ecologic analysis, we used census-tract data to examine factors associated with a greater life expectancy. A total of 501 (55%) JHS participants survived to age 85 years or older. Higher social cohesion and greater residential land use were modestly associated with survival to old age (risk difference = 25%, 95% CI: 0-49%; and 4%, 95% CI: 1-7%, respectively). These neighborhood effects were modestly mediated through leisure time physical activity; additionally, social cohesion was mediated through home and yard activity. In our ecologic analysis, a greater percentage of homeowners and a greater proportion of people living in partnered families were associated with higher census-tract level life expectancy. African American older adults living in residential neighborhoods or neighborhoods with high social cohesion were more likely to survive to old age.