First Year Medical Program Students Demonstrate the Importance of Community Engaged Research( continued)
Authors: Akira Féliz, Aarin Huffman, Berenice Elizarraraz, Chris Argueta, Clarence Sams, Erva Tatlilioglu, Fatima Amin, Lilly Jimoh, Toobenna Obi, Wanjiku Dyer
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Noe Chavez
When delving into the regional health disparities from the Los Angeles( LA) County Health Survey 2017 results, Service Planning Area( SPA) 6 stands out as a focal point. Compromising a Hispanic majority of 68 % and African American population of 27 %, SPA 6 faces unique health challenges. In selecting our focus within SPA 6, we wanted to explore health conditions that we felt have been underdiscussed within the area and have an underlying level of multi-factorial complexity. To do so, we reviewed the 2003 and 2017 LA County Health Survey Results and found that the pediatric asthma prevalence rate was particularly intriguing. In 2003, out of the 8 SPA’ s, SPA 6 had the second lowest prevalence of children ages 0-17 with asthma at 5.9 % with only SPA 4 lower at 5.3 %. For reference, the LA County average was 7.9 %, with the highest prevalence rates SPA 8( 9.8 %), SPA 1( 12.3 %), SPA 5( 13 %).
CERP Group 2 Socioeconomic Drivers Behind the Pediatric Asthma Prevalence Rate in SPA 6
This is particularly noteworthy considering that in 2003, there were intense wildfires between October 20th and November 3rd in Southern California that set the stage for a costly and horrific natural disaster( NOAA, 2004) as well as air pollution numbers that exceeded the national health standards, particularly in ozone and particle pollution( Figdor and Chausow, 2004). Most recently in 2017 however, the SPA 6 pediatric asthma prevalence has risen to 7.8 %, which is now above the new LA County average of 7.4 % and is the third highest prevalence of pediatric asthma among all SPAs.
Since previously evaluated in 2003, SPA 6 has had a 27.7 % increase in pediatric asthma prevalence which represents the largest percentage increase among all the SPAs. Furthermore, SPA 6 had the highest percentage of children and adults who reported having difficulty accessing medical care among all 8 SPAs at 15.0 % and 32.5 % respectively. Regarding asthma risk factors assessed in the county health survey, SPA 6 had the second highest percentage of households with children regularly exposed to tobacco smoke at home at 23.7 %.
CDU College of Medicine | PG. 37