Objective: To examine whether (1) neighborhood disadvantage is associated with social function in 2- and 3-year-olds born at very low birth weight (<1500 g) and (2) the association between social function and child's health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is moderated by neighborhood disadvantage.
Design: Cross-sectional study using the Newborn Lung Project, a cohort of infants born at very low birth weight in 2003 and 2004 in Wisconsin.
Setting: Wisconsin.
Participants: This study includes the subgroup of 626 non-Hispanic black or white infants who were followed up at ages 24 to 43 months with parent-reported health and developmental information.
Main exposure: An index of neighborhood disadvantage was derived by principal component analysis of 5 census tract variables (percentage of families in poverty, percentage of households with income higher than the state median, percentage of women with bachelor's degree or more, percentage of single mothers, and percentage of mothers of young children unemployed). Children were then classified (based on index tertiles) as living in either disadvantaged, middle advantage, or advantaged neighborhoods. Children's HRQoL was measured using the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory.
Main outcome measure: Social function was measured using the Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory.
Results: Adjusting for child medical and family socioeconomic attributes, social function was lower (mean difference, -4.60; 95% confidence interval, -8.4 to -0.8) for children living in disadvantaged vs advantaged neighborhoods. We also found that the ill effects of lower HRQoL are particularly bad for children living in a disadvantaged neighborhood.
Conclusion: Children born at very low birth weight have disparities in social function at ages 2 and 3 years that are associated with both HRQoL and neighborhood characteristics.