Am J Public Health. 2004 Jul;94(7):1250-7. |
|
Geographic clustering
of adult asthma hospitalization and residential exposure to pollution at a
United States-Canada border crossing.
Oyana TJ, Rogerson
P, Lwebuga-Mukasa JS.
Department of Geography, University of Buffalo, NY,
OBJECTIVES: We conducted a case-control study of adulthood asthma and point-source
respirable particulate air pollution with asthma-diagnosed
case patients (n = 3717) and gastroenteritis-diagnosed control patients (n
= 4129) to determine effects of particulate air pollution on public health.
METHODS: We used hospitalization data from Buffalo, NY, neighborhoods for
a 5-year period (1996 through 2000), geographic information systems techniques,
the Diggle method, and statistical analysis to compare the locations
of case patients and control patients in terms of proximity to different known
pollution sources in the study area. RESULTS: We found a clustering of asthma
cases in close proximity to the Peace Bridge Complex and the freeways and
a dose-response relationship indicating a decreased risk of asthma prevalence
the farther an individual resides from the source of exposure. CONCLUSIONS:
These findings provide a basis for the development of new hypotheses relating
to the spatial distribution of asthma prevalence and morbidity in this community.
PMID: 15226151 [PubMed
- in process]