Pj. Beggs et F. Siciliano, Spatial relationship between dwelling crowding and selected causes of morbidity in Sydney, Australia, 1994-97, AUST GEOGR, 32(3), 2001, pp. 377-401
The environment in which we live greatly influences our health. One particu
lar factor that has been related to morbidity and mortality is dwelling cro
wding. A range of mechanisms have been proposed as links between dwelling c
rowding and disease, including increased exposures to allergens, respirator
y irritants and infectious agents in crowded dwellings. While studies of dw
elling crowding have been conducted in many locations around the world, thi
s factor has received little attention in Australian health studies. We exa
mine relationships between dwelling crowding and health in Sydney, using th
ree case studies at the local government area (LGA) level within the Sydney
Statistical Division. Dwelling and demographic data from the 1996 Australi
an census are used, along with four socio-economic indexes produced by the
Australian Bureau of Statistics, and hospital inpatient data for the period
1 July 1994 to 30 June 1997 as the health indicator. Results suggest that
dwelling crowding is a significant factor in certain diseases in Sydney. As
thma hospital separations are not correlated with dwelling crowding, althou
gh multiple linear regression analysis produces three models which include
crowding and three of the socio-economic indexes as significant variables.
Separations for bronchitis and emphysema, and all causes combined, are posi
tively correlated with dwelling crowding. Dwelling crowding is strongly neg
atively correlated with all but one of the socio-economic indicators.