The multilevel health profile of Moscow found that the context effect of urban residence on physical health was associated mainly with relative income inequality, one of three forms of social inequality tested. There were three interactions between urban context and individual characteristics which impacted significantly on individual health: urban area risk for poverty with individual age, urban area mean alcohol consumption levels with individual education, and urban area ratios of small apartment sizes with gender.

These macro associations were independent and in addition to the significant effect of explanatory micro level variables: personal health habits of individuals, their participation in formal and informal networks, the lack of social cohesion or social support. The macro level context was found to have a moderator effect on several micro determinants of individual physical health.