Is Fringe Baking A Component of Socially Determined Health?

This was an exploratory study to assess the association between density of fringe lenders (e.g.payday) and health status. For Louisville, Kentucky, ZIP code level data on hospitalizations and mortalityrates as health measures were compared to fringe bank locations. We found lower socioeconomic status(SES) positively correlated with greater frequency of fringe banks; rates of illness appear to be higher in ZIPcodes with more fringe banks, but this finding was not statistically significant. In conclusion, neighbor-hoods between higher frequencies of fringe banks appear to have poorer health; it is premature to rule in orrule out a direct or indirect association between neighborhood presence of fringe banks, but there is enoughevidence to justify additional research to put any conclusions on a firmer footing.