Local ecological factors, ultrafine particulate concentrations, and asthma prevalence rates in Buffalo, New York, neighborhoods

Abstract

Previous to this study various healthcare utilization studies and house-to-house surveys had shown that Buffalo's west side had a high utilization rate for asthma and high asthma prevalence in comparison with neighboring communities. The relative contributions of traffic-related pollution and personal and local ecological factors to the high asthma rates were still unknown. To investigate the potential roles of personal home environmental factors and local ecological factors in variations of asthma prevalence in Buffalo neighborhoods, we conducted a cross-sectional survey of a systematic random sample of 2000 households in the city of Buffalo, New York, with a response rate of 80.4%. We found that the odds of having at least one person with asthma per household on Buffalo's west side was 2.57 times [95% confidence interval (CI)=1.85-3.57] that of Buffalo's east side. There were no statistically significant differences in the odds of finding at least one person with asthma in households of other Buffalo neighborhoods. We further found no difference in the odds of having asthma on Buffalo's west side even after correcting for race/ethnicity, household triggers of asthma, and socioeconomic factors. Monitoring ultrafine particulates showed increased levels in communities downwind of the Peace Bridge Complex and major roadways supplying it. A multiple-regression model showed that asthma prevalence may be influenced by humidity and ultrafine particulate concentrations. These results suggest that increased asthma risk may be influenced by chronic exposure to personal and local ecological factors.