Transportation and health inequities have been subjects of study by scholars from various disciplines, but the linkages among traffic exposure, race, class, and asthma is neither sufficient nor conclusive. Previous studies suggest that the relationships are multifaceted and geographically specific. We investigate neighborhood social and transportation impacts on childhood asthma disparities in Tarrant County, Texas, using geographical information systems. Results reveal distinctive socio-demographic characteristics of the patients; clear spatial patterns of neighborhoods with and without asthma hospitalizations; and significant contextual effects of trafficdensity, race, and class on neighborhood childhood asthma hospitalizations. The findings generally support the notion of contextual effects. (A) Reprinted with permission from Elsevier.
Abstract