Environmental Health Perspectives
Volume 126, Issue 7, 2018

Associations between living near water and risk of mortality among urban Canadians (Article) (Open Access)

Crouse D.L.* , Balram A. , Hystad P. , Pinault L. , van den Bosch M. , Chen H. , Rainham D. , Thomson E.M. , Close C.H. , van Donkelaar A. , Martin R.V. , Ménard R. , Robichaud A. , Villeneuve P.J.
  • a Department of Sociology, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB, Canada, New Brunswick Institute for Research, Data, and Training, Fredericton, NB, Canada
  • b New Brunswick Institute for Research, Data, and Training, Fredericton, NB, Canada
  • c College of Public Health & Human Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, United States
  • d Health Analysis Division, Statistics Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada
  • e Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
  • f Public Health Ontario, Toronto, ON, Canada, Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Toronto, ON, Canada, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
  • g Healthy Populations Institute, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada
  • h Environmental Health Science and Research Bureau, Health Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada
  • i Esri Canada, Victoria, BC, Canada
  • j Department of Physics & Atmospheric Science, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada
  • k Department of Physics & Atmospheric Science, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA, United States
  • l Air Quality Research Division, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Dorval, QC, Canada
  • m Air Quality Research Division, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Dorval, QC, Canada
  • n Department of Health Sciences, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Increasing evidence suggests that residential exposures to natural environments, such as green spaces, are associated with many health benefits. Only a single study has examined the potential link between living near water and mortality. OBJECTIVE: We sought to examine whether residential proximity to large, natural water features (e.g., lakes, rivers, coasts, “blue space”) was associated with cause-specific mortality. METHODS: Our study is based on a population-based cohort of nonimmigrant adults living in the 30 largest Canadian cities [i.e., the 2001 Canadian Census Health and Environment Cohort) (CanCHEC)]. Subjects were drawn from the mandatory 2001 Statistics Canada long-form census, who were linked to the Canadian mortality database and to annual income-tax filings, through 2011. We estimated associations between living within 250 m of blue space and deaths from several common causes of death. We adjusted models for many personal and contextual covariates, as well as for exposures to residential greenness and ambient air pollution. RESULTS: Our cohort included approximately 1.3 million subjects at baseline, 106,180 of whom died from nonaccidental causes during follow-up. We found significant, reduced risks of mortality in the range of 12–17% associated with living within 250 m of water in comparison with living farther away, among all causes of death examined, except with external/accidental causes. Protective effects were found to be higher among women and all older adults than among other subjects, and protective effects were found to be highest against deaths from stroke and respiratory-related causes. C ONCLUSIONS : Our findings suggest that living near blue spaces in urban areas has important benefits to health, but further work is needed to better understand the drivers of this association. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP3397. © 2018, Public Health Services, US Dept of Health and Human Services. All rights reserved.

Author Keywords

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Index Keywords

urban population analysis demography Dementia cerebrovascular accident population density human epidemiology Lakes Cohort Studies statistics and numerical data diabetes mellitus Rivers priority journal Oceans and Seas Aged respiratory tract disease Environment Residence Characteristics marriage cardiovascular disease lake male Canada environmental factor female risk factor environmental exposure particulate matter Air Pollutants air pollutant Ozone Article life major clinical study household income adult propensity score cohort analysis nitrogen dioxide cause of death environmental health sea river geographic and geological phenomena cerebrovascular disease mortality water supply Alzheimer Disease health survey
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85056104214&doi=10.1289%2fEHP3397&partnerID=40&md5=6a228d0b8de291eb09b0a2bb90ab08ba
DOI: 10.1289/EHP3397
ISSN: 00916765
Cited by: 4
Original Language: English