Roads, isolation and more schizophrenia hospital visits ^{CEFR B1}

Researchers performed ZIP code-level analyses in New York City using annual New York State Department of Health counts of hospital visits for mood, anxiety, adjustment and schizophrenia disorders. They measured community isolation with a new Community Severance Index that accounts for roads, traffic and lack of pedestrian infrastructure such as sidewalks and crosswalks. The index was developed while the team worked at Columbia Mailman School of Public Health; Marianthi-Anna Kioumourtzoglou led its development and co-led the study and is now affiliated with Brown’s Center for Climate, Environment and Health.

The study found the strongest association with schizophrenia-related hospital visits, and the effect was similar across age groups. Jaime Benavides, an investigator at Brown University School of Public Health, contrasted isolated areas with environments where cars do not dominate and people walk and meet outside. The authors note that traffic patterns and road design are urban features that planners can change.

Researchers suggest that isolation may harm mental health by reducing access to goods and services, lowering social contacts, discouraging walking and increasing stress about road safety. The team plans to adapt the index for other large US cities and to study how extreme heat, air pollution and isolation together affect elderly mental health. The work was supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Institute on Aging.