Racial and Environmental Inequalities in Spatial Patterns in Asthma Risks in the U.S South

• In Event: 1451 - Community and Urban Sociology Section Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: 14. Racial Segregation

Abstract

Research on neighborhood effects and health includes research on how disparities in asthma prevalence may be linked to neighborhood racial composition and local exposure to toxic air, but often leaves aside the how neighborhoods are interconnected with nearby neighborhoods. Informed by urban studies and environmental justice research, the present study suggests that analyses of asthma disparities can adopt a complementary spatial framework that highlights how social outcomes are patterned across geographic space. Using data on more than 4,000 neighborhoods in the U.S. South, local indicators of spatial autocorrelation that denote whether a neighborhood is in a cluster are employed for three variables: asthma prevalence, proportion of black residents, and air pollution leading to respiratory health risks. Findings suggest that presence in both a hotspot of black residents and air pollution are linked to greater odds of location in an asthma hotspot, and that racially segregated areas especially matter.

Author

• Kevin T Smiley, State University of New York at Buffalo