journal of biomedical informatics
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Identifying Racial and Geographic Disparities in Paediatric Asthma: Medical Case

Author(s): Eiliola Becker*

Pediatric asthma is disproportionately prevalent in black and other socioeconomic disadvantaged kids. It’s challenging to identify vulnerable individuals, localities, or immediate exposures that may lead to juvenile exacerbation of asthma due to interurban diversity in environmental risk variables and limited access to the highest health data. This paper describes a new multidisciplinary health disparities intervention and treatment strategy for paediatric asthma. The prevalence of asthma encounters is first mapped at a high spatial and temporal resolution using addresslevel health records from such a major children’s hospital. The Environmental Protection Screening Method indicators for census tracts are then established to look for patterns in public health threats and hazards that may contributing to the prevalence of asthma in various areas. EJSM indicators and paediatric asthma incidence rates throughout the region, assisting in the identification of demographic features and associated risk factors with both elevated/low rates of paediatric asthma. The EJSM scanning activity and BPR analysis show that each community has its own set of risks and vulnerabilities that can influence the rate of acute paediatric asthma acute care visits, suggesting research and intervention targets. However, it is obvious that many forms of social poverty are contributing to high incidence of paediatric asthma, which is linked to unequal developments and racial social inequality. The findings serve as a foundation for developing placebased population health research and interventions.


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