Examining the role of location-specific associations between ambient air pollutants and adult asthma in the United States.
This study examined the association between ozone and fine particulate (PM2.5) exposure and asthma risk by place of residence. We linked 412,832 adult respondents from the 2009 U.S. Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System to their residence counties. Observed and interpolated ozone and PM2.5 concentration data from 2006 to 2009 were used as exposures. We linked self-reported current asthma status and other individual risk factors to county-level risk factors in multilevel logistic regressions. Results indicated spatially varied asthma risks and spatially varied associations between ambient air pollution and asthma risk. Residents in counties not located within a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) and in inner ring suburbs had a relatively higher asthma risk. Positive ozone-asthma associations were detected across all spatial settings, while positive PM2.5-asthma associations were detected only in central cities of an MSA and in outer ring suburbs, indicating that residence location modified the relationship between ambient air pollution and asthma risk.
Department of Health Services Research & Administration, College of Public Health, 984350 Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198-4350, USA.
Tao
T
Li
Department of Health Services Research & Administration, College of Public Health, 984350 Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198-4350, USA. Electronic address: glin@unmc.edu.
Ge
G
Lin
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000009:adverse effects*; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001249:Asthma / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010126:Ozone / Q000009:adverse effects; D012307:Risk Factors; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012737:Sex Factors; D013383:Suburban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult
D000393:Air Pollutants; D010126:Ozone
Asthma; Location-specific effect; Multilevel analysis; Ozone; PM(2.5)