Walking Distance to Tobacco Outlets in Vulnerable Areas Baltimore City: An Issue of Health Equity

Introduction: Health equity concerns related to tobacco use are signifi cant in Baltimore City. We use spatial analytic techniques to understand the density of tobacco outlets by areas of socioeconomic vulnerability, and their location within walking distance of residences compared with vehicle ownership. Methods: Population demographic indicators were obtained from the 2010 Census and associated with increasing numbers of tobacco outlets using a linear regression model. The distance from the centroid of each census block to the nearest licensed tobacco retailer was calculated using a spatial joining techniques.