Living in Cities Predisposes People to High Blood Pressure and Depression and Is Seen as a Risk for Developing Chronic Diseases

Abstract

Urbanization entails high levels of pollution, extreme weather events, noise, scarcity of green spaces, and others that influence health. The aim of this work is to compare cardiovascular, respiratory, and mental health in the Spanish population, according to the size of the municipality of residence. It is also intended to know the perception of the population about the city's influence on these diseases. For this, a sample of 587 people (> 18 years of age) has been analysed, considering the size of the municipality of residence (< 49,999 inhabitants, 50,000 - 499,999 inhabitants and > 500,000 inhabitants), the health state and stress level perceived, cardiovascular, respiratory, and mental illnesses diagnoses and the perception about the influence of living in cities on health. We have found that living in medium-sized municipalities increases the hypertension risk (OR=6.35, p<0.05) and living in large municipalities increases the depression risk (OR=2.42, p<0.05), and both, stress (OR=1.80, p<0.05 and OR=1.67, p<0.05, respectively). Anxiety is perceived as the pathology most linked to cities. In conclusion, although anxiety is the pathology most associated with living in cities, urban characteristics predispose to hypertension, depression, and stress. However, stress acts as a modifier of the urban exposure effect on health. The multi-causal relationships of chronic processes and the global increase in urban municipalities encourage more urban health studies to create healthier spaces.