Health Impact Assessment | Prevalence of Pediatric Asthma Among Children

Running head: HEALTH IMPACT ASSESSMENT (HIA) REPORT
HEALTH IMPACT ASSESSMENT (HIA) REPORT
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HEALTH IMPACT ASSESSMENT (HIA) REPORT1
Prevalence of pediatric asthma among children ages 0- 17-years in East Harlem, New
York City
Background
Pediatric asthma is stated to be a chronic disorder that is characterized by hyper-
reactivity and inflammation in the airway of the respiratory tracts that is triggered when
exposed by allergens such as pests, mold, pollen, smoke, air pollution, violence or increase in
stress level (Hughes et al., 2017). In 2015, there were 13% of children under the age of 12
years and less from New York City (NYC) that are diagnosed with asthma. The city is
culturally diverse; as a result, the prevalence of different groups can be observed where the
Black children have five times more likelihood (22%), and Latino children have three times
the possibility of being diagnosed with asthma (15%) than the Whites (Nyc.gov, 2017). The
percentage of Asian children acquiring asthma was found to be 10% that indicates that racial
inequalities in the case of asthma-related death in the city. In the period of 2010 to 2014, 57
deaths among children aging 1 to 14 years due to asthma-related issues and 50 were either
Black or Latino (Jean-Louis & Benitez, 2017). The scenario is more prevalent in some of the
areas in New York City; for example, children residing in East Harlem were found to
experience a higher frequency of records with respect to asthma-related hospitalizations and
emergency visits.
As per the opinion of Yonas et al. (2017), the rate of asthma-related hospitalization
was 2.2 higher among pediatric patients living in East Harlem than others in the other parts of
NYC. On the other hand, the emergency department visits were 2.4 times higher among the
concerned population that indicates that 620 vs. 255 per 10,000 children. East Harlem is a
culturally diverse area that is primarily comprised of Black (31%) and Latino (50%)
population (Nyc.gov, 2017). Among the entire community, 31% live below the poverty level