The spatial patterns of adverse health effects of ozone pollution on childhood respiratory diseases in urban Houston

Abstract

This paper reports on the investigation of the spatial patterns and variations of adverse health effects of ozone pollution on childhood respiratory diseases in Houston, Texas. The study period is June to September of 2001. No significant global relationship exists between ozone pollution and prevalence of childhood respiratory diseases. However, geographically weighted regression (GWR) analysis reveals spatially varied adverse health effect. With the guidance from GWR results, the association between ozone pollution and childhood respiratory disease prevalence is proved to be significant in three sub-regions. Moreover, spatial regression analysis suggests the presence of spatial dependence of the prevalence of childhood respiratory diseases. The spatial variation of the relationship between ozone pollution and childhood respiratory disease prevalence indicates health effects of confounding or intervening factors. The spatial dependency of disease prevalence is related to both the spatial patterns of pollution and those of confounding factors. The findings call for future investigation to examine the factors that might be working together with or against ozone pollution when health effects are concerned. For health practice and management, a set of neighborhood-specific policy, practice, and resource allocation strategies need to be developed to minimize the adverse health effects of ozone pollution.