Table 5.
Differences in geo-data between urban and rural areas within GECCO*
| Spatial scale | Respondents in urban areas (n=25 702) |
Respondents in rural areas (n=17 976) |
P value | |
| Population and households | ||||
| Number of men and women (Median (IQR)) | PC4 | 9540.0 (6915.0–12 350.0) | 5265.0 (2570.0–8390.0) | <0.001 |
| Percentage of residents (≥65 years) (Median (IQR)) | Neighbourhood | 12.0 (7.0–18.0) | 13.0 (10.0–16.0) | <0.001 |
| Percentage of Western immigrants (Median (IQR)) | Neighbourhood | 9.0 (7.0–11.0) | 5.0 (4.0–8.0) | <0.001 |
| Percentage of non-Western immigrants (Median (IQR)) | Neighbourhood | 8.0 (4.0–16.0) | 2.0 (1.0–3.0) | <0.001 |
| Average household size (Mean (SD)) | PC4 | 2.2 (0.3) | 2.5 (0.2) | <0.001 |
| Housing stock (Median (IQR)) | Neighbourhood | 1530.0 (875.0–2827.5) | 790.0 (325.0–1525.0) | <0.001 |
| Socioeconomic status | ||||
| Socioeconomic status score (Median (IQR)) | PC4 | 0.16 (−0.53–0.63) | 0.40 (0.08–0.71) | <0.001 |
| Home value (in €1000,-) (Median (IQR)) | Neighbourhood | 189.0 (153.0–229.0) | 230.0 (190.0–276.0) | <0.001 |
| Social security | ||||
| Number of social security beneficiaries per 1000 households (Mean (SD)) | Neighbourhood | 50.3 (46.8) | 20.3 (18.9) | <0.001 |
| Number of incapacity benefits per 1000 residents (15–64 years old) (Mean (SD)) | Neighbourhood | 79.3 (28.3) | 73.8 (32.7) | <0.001 |
| Noise | ||||
| Road-traffic, rail-traffic and air-traffic noise (in dB (A)) (Mean (SD)) | PC6 | 54.2 (4.7) | 51.7 (6.6) | <0.001 |
| Air pollution | ||||
| Mass concentration of NOx (in µg/m3) (Mean (SD)) | PC6 | 38.1 (10.7) | 28.3 (7.3) | <0.001 |
| Reflectance of PM2.5 filters (in 10–5/m) (Mean (SD)) | PC6 | 1.3 (0.2) | 1.1 (0.2) | <0.001 |
| Mass concentration of PM2.5 (in µg/m3) (Mean (SD)) | PC6 | 16.6 (0.6) | 16.4 (0.7) | <0.001 |
| Mass concentration of PMcoarse (in µg/m3) (Mean (SD)) | PC6 | 8.6 (0.8) | 7.9 (0.3) | <0.001 |
| Mass concentration of NO2 (in µg/m3) (Mean (SD)) | PC6 | 26.8 (5.7) | 19.3 (4.1) | <0.001 |
| Liveability | ||||
| Liveability (n (%)) | PC4 | <0.001 | ||
| Extremely negative | 35 (0.1) | 0 (0.0) | ||
| Very negative | 201 (0.8) | 0 (0.0) | ||
| Moderate | 1310 (5.1) | 6 (0.1) | ||
| Moderate positive | 4475 (17.4) | 363 (2.0) | ||
| Positive | 13 552 (52.8) | 3012 (16.8) | ||
| Very positive | 5998 (23.4) | 14 116 (78.9) | ||
| Extremely positive | 96 (0.4) | 384 (2.2) |
*The sample size may vary for some variables, because of missing values. Means and SD are presented for normally distributed continuous variables. Medians and IQR are presented for skewed continuous variables. Frequencies and proportions are presented for categorical variables. Differences in mean were tested using Independent-Samples T-test for normally distributed continuous variables, differences in median were tested using Mann-Whitney U test for skewed continuous variables and differences in frequencies were tested using Pearson χ² test.
dB(A), A-weighted decibels; GECCO, Geoscience and Health Cohort Consortium; n, number of observations; NO2, nitrogen dioxide; NOx, nitrogen oxides; PC4, 4-digit postal code; PC6, 6-digit postal code; PMcoarse, particulate matter with diameter 2.5–10 µm; PM2.5, particulate matter with diameter ≤2.5 µm.