Study: Baltimore Residents With Rat Problems More Likely To Suffer From Depression
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Could a rat problem lead to depression?
That's what a study from researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health suggests.
According to the study, residents of Baltimore's low-income neighborhoods, who have rodent problems are significantly more likely to suffer from sadness or anxiety.
"Nobody likes living around rats," says study leader Danielle German, PhD, an assistant professor in the Department of Health, Behavior and Society at the Bloomberg School. "This study provides very strong evidence that rats are an under appreciated stressor that affects how people feel about their lives in low-income neighborhoods. The good news is it's modifiable. If we can do something to reduce the number of rats in these neighborhoods, we can improve people's well-being."
Those residents are also often plagues by other urban living issues like vacant house, drug sales, or risks to their safety.
Researchers published their findings in the March issue of the Journal of Community Psychology.
German said when researchers spoke with residents about health issues they face, they expected to hear people discuss drugs, HIV and access to healthier foods. Instead they heard about rats and trash.
She along with Carl A. Latkin, PhD, a professor at the Bloomberg School, analyzed the data they collected from 448 Baltimore residents in poorer neighborhoods from March 2010 to Dec. 2011. It was a part of a study that was to help reduce drug and sex risks by addressing depression.
Eighty-three percent of participants were African-American and 54 percent were male with very low incomes.
Half said they saw rats weekly on their block and about 35 percent saw rats daily on their block.
Thirteen percent saw rats inside their home, with five percent seeing them daily inside their homes.
More than half of the participants said seeing rats were a sign of a bad neighborhood.
German said although the conversation around rats has been more about them being carriers of disease, "but that misses what it feels like to be a resident of a neighborhood where you see rats every day. There is no reason why rats should be inherent to areas of poverty."
Seventy-two percent of those who considered seeing rats as a big problem were more like to suffer from acute depression.
"Those who live in areas where the perceived rat problem is the greatest are more pessimistic about their own ability to control rats, have less confidence in their neighbors' commitment to rat eradication and have relatively little faith that the city would act if called upon to address the rat problem," German says. "Yes, eradicating rats from Baltimore City is a hard goal, but making it so no neighborhood has to see rats every day is a goal we can strive for. It would go a long way toward improving the outlook of people who live in poor neighborhoods and may be a starting point for conversations about other community health priorities. These data suggest that we need to work together with community members to achieve these goals."
READ THE FULL STUDY: "Exposure to Urban Rats as a Community Stressor Among Low-Income Urban Residents"
