Ramos Rosemarie G, Talbott Evelyn O, Youk Ada, Karol Meryl H
University of Pittsburgh, Graduate School of Public Health, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, PA 15219-3130, USA.
J Environ Health. 2006 Apr;68(8):26-32, 44.
Asthma research has traditionally focused on children and the elderly, the two populations considered most susceptible to complications. The prevalence of asthma in the adult population (19-64 years of age) is, however, gaining recognition as a formidable clinical and public health problem. Few studies have compared the incidence of adult asthma hospitalizations in urban and nonurban areas. The study reported here, using population size, population density, and traffic-related factors to define urban versus nonurban environments, selected six Pennsylvania counties to test the hypothesis that the degree of urbanization influences the asthma hospitalization rate for adults. The study group comprised adults 19-64 years of age who were hospitalized for asthma (as the primary diagnosis) from 1999 to 2001. To define urbanization in relation to traffic, the study used daily vehicular traffic count and miles of roads/highways for each of the six counties. The authors found a decrease in the adult asthma hospitalization rate as urbanization decreased in some of the counties. For other counties, however, the rate increased as urbanization decreased. The counties in which the latter was observed had depressed measures of socioeconomic status. These findings suggest that depressed socioeconomic conditions may supersede exposure to traffic-related pollution as a factor associated with asthma hospitalizations.
传统上，哮喘研究主要聚焦于儿童和老年人，这两类人群被认为最易出现并发症。然而，成人（19至64岁）哮喘的患病率正日益被视为一个严峻的临床和公共卫生问题。很少有研究比较过城市和非城市地区成人哮喘住院率。此处报告的这项研究，利用人口规模、人口密度和与交通相关的因素来界定城市与非城市环境，选取了宾夕法尼亚州的六个县，以检验城市化程度会影响成人哮喘住院率这一假设。研究组由1999年至2001年因哮喘（作为主要诊断）住院的19至64岁成年人组成。为了根据交通情况界定城市化，该研究采用了六个县各自的每日车辆交通流量计数以及道路/高速公路里程数。作者发现，在一些县，随着城市化程度降低，成人哮喘住院率也有所下降。然而，在其他县，随着城市化程度降低，该比率却上升了。观察到后一种情况的县，其社会经济状况指标较低。这些发现表明，社会经济状况不佳可能会取代接触与交通相关的污染，成为与哮喘住院相关的一个因素。
