Examining the Multiscale Effects of Urban Environment on Chronic Diseases: A Case Study of Hypertension in New York City

Examining the Multiscale Effects of Urban Environment on Chronic Diseases: A Case Study of Hypertension in New York City | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Examining the Multiscale Effects of Urban Environment on Chronic Diseases: A Case Study of Hypertension in New York City Zefeng Lu, Huanchun Huang, Shuying Zhang, Zhifeng Liu, Wei Zhai, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4701979/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract With the ongoing process of urbanization, the global issue of chronic diseases is becoming increasingly prominent, with rising incidence rates. This study focuses on hypertension, a typical chronic disease, and analyzes the spatial similarity and dependence of hypertension prevalence and its influencing factors through correlation and spatial autocorrelation analyses. A Multiscale Geographically Weighted Regression (MGWR) model is employed to investigate the spatial heterogeneity of environmental factors affecting hypertension prevalence, providing a deeper understanding of the drivers behind changes in hypertension rates. The results indicate that hypertension prevalence in New York City exhibits significant spatial non-stationarity. Income levels, race, and functional mix are primary influencers. Additionally, factors such as building density, vehicle ownership, and the proportion of Black or African American residents also impact hypertension prevalence to varying degrees and directions. The MGWR model effectively assesses the impact of urban environments on hypertension prevalence and ranks the importance of influencing factors. With an R-squared value of 0.785, the MGWR model, outperforms both Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) models in identifying the determinants of hypertension prevalence. This study offers valuable decision-making support for the government in formulating intervention policies and urban planning and design to reduce hypertension incidence. Urban environment Chronic Diseases MGWR Influence mechanism. Full Text Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-4701979","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":324325691,"identity":"c27ce449-a2bd-4d7f-b6c0-a0432ac367cb","order_by":0,"name":"Zefeng Lu","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Nanjing Forestry University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Zefeng","middleName":"","lastName":"Lu","suffix":""},{"id":324325692,"identity":"38b56eb8-8cd0-4cc8-86e3-d00ae0fd09d3","order_by":1,"name":"Huanchun Huang","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA/UlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACAxiDj5mB8UGCgYQcG3v7AeK0sDEzMBt8KLAx5uM5k0CkFiCSnPEhLXGehIMBPh0M5hLJzx5+bbPLY2PnPSDNY3A4vU2CIYHhR8U2nFosZ6SZG8u2JRezMfMlGAO15LZJNx5g7DlzG7fDbiSYSUu2MSe2MfMYJIO1yBxIYGZsw6cl/RtQSz1Yy2GQw9gkEgwIaMkxk/zYdhikxbBxhkFaAmEtZ96USTOcOw7SYszwwcDGsA0YyAfx+uV4+jbJH2XVif38Z8x/JPyRkJdvbz/44EcFbi0gwMzLhiZyAK96IGD88YeQklEwCkbBKBjRAACAx1SnENoPxwAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3330-3732","institution":"The University of Texas at San Antonio","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Huanchun","middleName":"","lastName":"Huang","suffix":""},{"id":324325693,"identity":"63f3960c-14f8-4189-aa8d-ded57ebe1644","order_by":2,"name":"Shuying Zhang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Nanjing Forestry University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Shuying","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhang","suffix":""},{"id":324325694,"identity":"29c910b0-5cf3-4399-9221-68038acd7cfb","order_by":3,"name":"Zhifeng Liu","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Beijing Normal University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Zhifeng","middleName":"","lastName":"Liu","suffix":""},{"id":324325695,"identity":"ab60fb1d-b5e9-4655-a4a7-cc5122b68665","order_by":4,"name":"Wei Zhai","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"The University of Texas at San Antonio","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Wei","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhai","suffix":""},{"id":324325696,"identity":"58c6cc6b-a5a8-4cd3-b3ef-f5daca225976","order_by":5,"name":"Haoming Qin","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"The University of Texas at San Antonio","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Haoming","middleName":"","lastName":"Qin","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-07-08 01:38:31","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4701979/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4701979/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":61813268,"identity":"ddd62f0e-9ce4-41d7-ad75-3c6d8d463bde","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-08-05 21:35:43","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":842465,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-4701979/v1_covered_bfe1fc81-f5c8-4457-a251-e610aa7cc57b.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"","formattedTitle":"Examining the Multiscale Effects of Urban Environment on Chronic Diseases: A Case Study of Hypertension in New York City","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Urban environment, Chronic Diseases, MGWR, Influence mechanism.","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4701979/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4701979/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"With the ongoing process of urbanization, the global issue of chronic diseases is becoming increasingly prominent, with rising incidence rates. 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