Socio-Ecological Assessment The population that I have selected is females, specifically adult females. The health condition that I have selected is arthritis. Arthritis is an issue that often afflicts older adults. It is a joint disorder that is the inflammation of joints, which can cause pain and can also be debilitating. There are different types of arthritis, including osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and psoriatic arthritis. The reason for studying females in particular is to determine if there are different factors that affect the rates at which women develop arthritis vs. The rates at which men do. If there are factors specific to females, that can help both in the prevention and the treatment of the condition.

A few different determinants of arthritis have been determined. One is obesity. A study found that obese individuals had three times the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis than normal weight individuals (Pedersen et al., 2006). Studies have also showed that obesity affects other forms of arthritis as well, and in particular influences the development of radiographic knee osteoarthritis (Magliano, 2008). Smoking is another factor that influences the development of arthritis, and this has been found in a number of different studies (Costenbader et al., 2006). Both obesity and smoking are lifestyle factors that are...

Rates of obesity and smoking are tied to one's location, and often to one's socio-economic status as well.
Tobon, Youinous and Saraux (2009) found that environmental factors were explanatory in the differences between rates of rheumatoid arthritis in Europe, noting that rates are significantly lower in southern European countries. They determined that women are far more likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis than men, but that "the mechanism by which gender influences the susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis remains unclear." Peak onset, however, is around the fifth decade or onset of menopause. They noted several other social or environmental factors that contribute to higher rates of rheumatoid arthritis. There is reason to believe that people living in an urban environment are more likely to develop RA, and that pollutants may also contribute to its development. Some diets, in particular that of the Mediterranean countries, are related to less development of RA.

The implication of this research is that there are definitely socio-ecological factors that can increase or reduce one's risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis.

References

Costenbader, K., Feskanich, D., Mandl, L. & Karlson, E. (2006). Smoking intensity, duration and cessation, and the risk of…