alth and self-reported socioeconomic status of more than 400 adults suffering from either asthma, chronic nasal or sinus conditions, or both. Most of the people live in northern California. Participants had previously been interviewed at least once as part of the researchers' on-going study. Some were also visited in their homes in order to directly assess their health status and environment.

The investigators were able to use computer mapping of residential location, a process known as geocoding, in order to link interview data with general U.S. census information for each person's surroundings. In this way they could characterize different area-wide socioeconomic factors such as percentage of home ownership, population density, average incomes, number of single-parent households, and local unemployment rates. By combining these factors, the investigators saw a strong link between the socioeconomic status of the area and health measures in asthma.

"This has been seen with other diseases besides asthma, although not usually as an effect over and above personal economic status," Blanc says. "Where we live doesn't predict our fate, but it surely links to our health. We should identify the key environmental agents and work to decrease how much people are exposed to them in their daily lives."

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Contact: Wallace Ravven
wravven@pubaff.ucsf.edu
415-476-2557
University of California - San Francisco
19-Dec-2005

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