Research Question: Asthma is a chronic condition affecting many children and the disease burden is higher among low-income populations (CDC, 2023). Which counties in California with larger populations under age 10 also experience high rates of asthma and poverty? While this study is ecologic in nature, this dashboard allows us to explore which counties might need additional resources or interventions to treat childhood asthma.
Description of data: The data for this dashboard comes from CalEnviroscreen 4.0, a composite dataset containing a variety of environmental exposure and health outcome markers, published in October 2021. It is produced and maintained by the Office of Environmental Health Hazards Assessment (OEHHA), a branch of California’s EPA.
Variables of interest: Children under 10 (2019 ACS population estimates of the percent per census tract of children under 10 years old), Asthma (Spatially modeled, age-adjusted rate of emergency department (ED) visits for asthma per 10,000 (averaged over 2015-2017), ED and Patient Discharge Datasets from the State of California, OSHPD), and Poverty (Percent of the population living below two times the federal poverty level (5-year estimate, 2015-2019), American Community Survey, US Census Bureau).
Results: There appears to be a moderate, positive association between the percentage of population aged 10 and younger and percent of population experiencing poverty. I categorized each variable of interest to determine which counties fall in the 75th percentile or higher for each variable and created a new indicator to note which counties come to the top in all three variables (see Data Explorer tab. Policymakers should further explore the need for public health intervention concerning childhood asthma in Kings, Merced, Imperial, Fresno, and Madera counties.
Author: Lyndsay Miles
Sources
California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment. (2021). CalEnviroScreen 4.0. CA.gov. https://oehha.ca.gov/calenviroscreen/report/calenviroscreen-40
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2023, May 10). Most recent national asthma data. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/asthma/most_recent_national_asthma_data.htm
Map of California showing rate of poverty by county. Notice that some of the highest rates are in the Central Valley region.
| County | Average cases per 10,000 |
|---|---|
| Solano | 103.95 |
| Merced | 91.92 |
| Kings | 88.18 |
| Imperial | 86.52 |
| Lake | 83.50 |
| Modoc | 82.50 |
| Fresno | 80.70 |
| Madera | 72.93 |
| Del Norte | 72.28 |
| Sacramento | 72.04 |
| San Joaquin | 70.24 |
| Contra Costa | 67.52 |
| Mendocino | 66.70 |
| Alameda | 66.39 |
| Humboldt | 66.10 |
| Tehama | 65.98 |
| Kern | 65.75 |
| Stanislaus | 62.70 |
| Plumas | 61.52 |
| San Bernardino | 60.26 |
| San Benito | 58.29 |
| Inyo | 57.75 |
| Amador | 55.74 |
| Los Angeles | 54.82 |
| Tuolumne | 52.45 |
| Monterey | 52.32 |
| Tulare | 52.18 |
| Shasta | 51.21 |
| Yuba | 50.07 |
| Butte | 48.25 |
| Mariposa | 47.69 |
| Glenn | 47.39 |
| Calaveras | 47.24 |
| Riverside | 46.48 |
| Yolo | 46.37 |
| Lassen | 44.33 |
| Napa | 43.24 |
| Siskiyou | 43.00 |
| San Francisco | 42.76 |
| Trinity | 41.75 |
| Santa Barbara | 41.44 |
| Sonoma | 40.83 |
| Mono | 40.61 |
| Colusa | 40.42 |
| San Mateo | 39.80 |
| Nevada | 39.52 |
| Sutter | 39.33 |
| Ventura | 37.81 |
| San Luis Obispo | 36.88 |
| San Diego | 35.84 |
| Placer | 33.39 |
| Santa Clara | 33.00 |
| El Dorado | 32.81 |
| Orange | 31.76 |
| Santa Cruz | 30.62 |
| Sierra | 28.19 |
| Marin | 24.10 |
| Alpine | 21.16 |
Counties with the most children under 10 years old, high rates of poverty, and high numbers of asthma-related ED visits may need additional resources to support community members experiencing childhood asthma. Explore the table below to see how each county experiences these factors. Data points in red represent cases where the county is in the 75th percentile or higher for that health-related indicator. Counties that fall in the third quartile or higher across all three health-related indicators are highlighted in yellow.