Environmentally Responsible Transportation Center for Communities of Concern (ERTC3) publications (UMKC)
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Items in this collection, including metadata, are from the ERTC3 consortium and are to be used for current and future research purposes. The project investigators in ERTC3 reserve the rights to the information from these projects, which may or may not be published in alternate formats.
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Item Traffic congestion and asthma-related hospital visits: evidence from Texas(2024-05) Wang, Tiankai; Yang, MeiAsthma is one of the most prevalent chronic conditions in the United States, particularly sensitive to environmental changes in urban areas. While traffic congestion is known to contribute to increased vehicle emissions and poorer air quality, its direct association with asthma incidence remains underexplored. This study aimed to address this void by analyzing 148 city-level observations from 2016 to 2020 in Texas, utilizing data from the Texas A&M Transportation Institute and Definitive Healthcare. This study investigated the association between traffic congestion, measured by the travel time index, and annual city-level asthma hospital discharges, while adjusting for refinery productivity, minority groups, and education levels through multivariate regression. The findings revealed a significant positive correlation between the travel time index and asthma visits, indicating that higher traffic congestion is associated with increased hospital visits for asthma. Additionally, higher refinery productivity was linked to elevated risks of asthma-related hospitalizations. Although correlations with Black or African American and Hispanic or Latino populations, as well as those with less than a high school education, were not statistically significant, a positive trend was observed. These results emphasize the impact of traffic congestion and industrial activities on asthma prevalence and the need for targeted public health interventions and urban planning strategies.Item Neighborhood walkability and cardiometabolic disease in Texas(2024-09) Wang, Tiankai; Yang, MeiCardiometabolic diseases (CMDs) are prevalent but often preventable, affecting significant numbers of adults in the United States, with 11% diagnosed with diabetes and 10% with cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Regular physical activities, like walking, play a crucial role in reducing health risks, particularly obesity and diabetes. We collected 1,994 observations for the year 2019, merging data from the Texas Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and the Environmental Protection Agency. We employed multivariable regression to assess the association between neighborhood walkability and CMD measures in Texas, while controlling for age, sex, racial/ethnic background, and family history of diabetes. Our findings revealed that higher neighborhood walkability is significantly associated with a lower body mass index (BMI) (β = -0.2781, p = 0.001), a reduced risk of high blood pressure (β = -0.0343, p = 0.098), diabetes (β = -0.0555, p = 0.046), heart disease (β = -0.0717, p = 0.062), and CVDs (β = -0.0603, p = 0.063), and a higher likelihood of engaging in aerobic physical activity (β = 0.0392, p = 0.062). The effects of the control variables align with prior studies, showing that being male or older increases the risk of high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease, while a family history of diabetes increases the risk of diabetes. We also found that African Americans live in communities with lower walkability scores compared to other racial/ethnic groups. Our findings highlight the importance of urban planning policies that promote walkable neighborhoods, as increased walkability can significantly reduce the incidence of CMDs and improve public health. These results also suggest incorporating community-based approaches in health promotion strategies, focusing on creating more walkable environments to mitigate the risk of these preventable diseases.