The Use of Spatial Statistics to Identify Asthma Risk Factors in an Urban Community

Abstract

Spatial epidemiological methods were used to identify relationships between pediatric asthma hospitalizations and specific demographic factors. A cross-sectional analysis of pediatric asthma hospital discharge data was linked to demographic, sociodemographic, and zip code-based information. Five hundred thirty-seven admissions were reported from 32 zip code areas. The mean crude rate of asthma discharges was 138.76/100,000, with 13 of these zip code areas exceeding this rate; 10 were adjacent (p < 0.002). Asthma rates organized by zip code found that the distribution of poverty (p < 0.0001), proportion of African-American residents (p < .0001), and educational attainment (p < 0.0001) in Jefferson County had similar aggregation patterns. Physician location was inversely correlated. Spatial epidemiology is a useful tool to demonstrate relationships between demographic information and disease rates, thus permitting intervention that is focused on high-risk communities.