The Asthma Coalition of Los Angeles County reports that one in 11 children and one in 14 adults in the county have asthma. However, those numbers are higher than the national averages. Yonsu Kim, a Clinical Data Analyst at L.A. Care Health Plan, wanted to understand a little more about how urban characteristics contribute to the high incidence of asthma in the county. He and three other researchers investigated, and their case study was published in the January edition of the Journal of Public Health: From Theory to Practice.
Kim and the other researchers looked at built environment, or those man-made features and structures where people live and work, and specifically used metrics in three dimensions. The first was density, which referred to the extent of concentration of people, households, jobs, traffic, or streets in a given area. The second was diversity, defined as the spatial arrangement of different types of land uses in a given area, including residential, commercial, transportation, and green space, which is relevant to travel distance and vehicle emissions. The third dimension, design, refers the availability of alternate routes between two destinations, or the ease of travel.
Using those dimensions, the researchers examined whether the metrics are associated with asthma emergency department visits. The research found that decreases in population density and a lack of mixed land use, with little open space, does result in more emergency department visits. The greatest impact was seen in low-income, under-resourced neighborhoods, specifically those with a high African American population. There was an association between that population, high traffic density, lack of green space and high emergency department visits.
L.A. Care is proud that Yonsu Kim led a case study that might help planners design communities that will provide healthier outcomes for the residents of Los Angeles County. This project aligns with L.A. Care’s commitment to advancing health equity for our members and their communities.