School of Public Health

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The collections in this community comprise faculty research works, as well as graduate theses and dissertations.

Note: Prior to July 1, 2007, the School of Public Health was named the College of Health & Human Performance.

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Subject: search.filters.subject.Census Tract

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Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    Spatial disparity in the distribution of superfund sites in South Carolina: an ecological study
    (Springer Nature, 2013-11-06) Burwell-Naney, Kristen; Zhang, Hongmei; Samantapudi, Ashok; Jiang, Chengsheng; Dalemarre, Laura; Rice, LaShanta; Williams, Edith; Wilson, Sacoby
    According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Superfund is a federal government program implemented to clean up uncontrolled hazardous waste sites. Twenty-six sites in South Carolina (SC) have been included on the National Priorities List (NPL), which has serious human health and environmental implications. The purpose of this study was to assess spatial disparities in the distribution of Superfund sites in SC. The 2000 US census tract and block level data were used to generate population characteristics, which included race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status (SES), education, home ownership, and home built before 1950. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) were used to map Superfund facilities and develop choropleth maps based on the aforementioned sociodemographic variables. Spatial methods, including mean and median distance analysis, buffer analysis, and spatial approximation were employed to characterize burden disparities. Regression analysis was performed to assess the relationship between the number of Superfund facilities and population characteristics. Spatial coincidence results showed that of the 29.5% of Blacks living in SC, 55.9% live in Superfund host census tracts. Among all populations in SC living below poverty (14.2%), 57.2% were located in Superfund host census tracts. Buffer analyses results (0.5mi, 1.0mi, 5.0mi, 0.5km, 1.0km, and 5.0km) showed a higher percentage of Whites compared to Blacks hosting a Superfund facility. Conversely, a slightly higher percentage of Blacks hosted (30.2%) a Superfund facility than those not hosting (28.8%) while their White counterparts had more equivalent values (66.7% and 67.8%, respectively). Regression analyses in the reduced model (Adj. R2 = 0.038) only explained a small percentage of the variance. In addition, the mean distance for percent of Blacks in the 90th percentile for Superfund facilities was 0.48mi. Burden disparities exist in the distribution of Superfund facilities in SC at the block and census tract levels across varying levels of demographic composition for race/ethnicity and SES.
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    Being overburdened and medically underserved: assessment of this double disparity for populations in the state of Maryland
    (Springer Nature, 2014-04-04) Wilson, Sacoby; Zhang, Hongmei; Jiang, Chengsheng; Burwell, Kristen; Rehr, Rebecca; Murray, Rianna; Dalemarre, Laura; Naney, Charles
    Environmental justice research has shown that many communities of color and low-income persons are differentially burdened by noxious land uses including Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) facilities. However, limited work has been performed to assess how these populations tend to be both overburdened and medically underserved. We explored this “double disparity” for the first time in Maryland. We assessed spatial disparities in the distribution of TRI facilities in Maryland across varying levels of sociodemographic composition using 2010 US Census Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) data. Univariate and multivariate regression in addition to geographic information systems (GIS) were used to examine relationships between sociodemographic measures and location of TRI facilities. Buffer analysis was also used to assess spatial disparities. Four buffer categories included: 1) census tracts hosting one or more TRI facilities; 2) tracts located more than 0 and up to 0.5 km from the closest TRI facility; 3) tracts located more than 0.5 km and up to 1 km from a TRI facility; and 4) tracts located more than 1 km and up to 5 km from a TRI facility. We found that tracts with higher proportions of non-white residents and people living in poverty were more likely to be closer to TRI facilities. A significant increase in income was observed with an increase in distance between a census tract and the closest TRI facility. In general, percent non-white was higher in HPSA tracts that host at least one TRI facility than in non-HPSA tracts that host at least one TRI facility. Additionally, percent poverty, unemployment, less than high school education, and homes built pre-1950 were higher in HPSA tracts hosting TRI facilities than in non-HPSA tracts hosting TRI facilities. We found that people of color and low-income groups are differentially burdened by TRI facilities in Maryland. We also found that both low-income groups and persons without a high school education are both overburdened and medically underserved. The results of this study provide insight into how state agencies can better address the double disparity of disproportionate environmental hazards and limited access to health care resources facing vulnerable communities in Maryland.
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    Investigation of Environmental Hazards Near Urban Agricultural Sites and Food Handling Behaviors of Consumers
    (2018) Shargo, Isabel H; Wilson, Sacoby; Public and Community Health; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Despite knowledge of the presence of environmental contaminants at legacy sites including Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) facilities, land restoration sites (LRPs), and Superfund sites, limited research has been done to investigate proximity to environmental hazards and potential exposure risks of consumers to urban-grown produce. We conducted a spatial analysis on the distribution of legacy sites, healthy food priority areas, and urban farms by various sociodemographic factors and surveyed consumers to assess food handling behaviors. We found that more residents were unemployed, had less than a high school diploma and had a lower median household income in census tracts that hosted an urban farm and a TRI facility. Also, across most socio demographic groups, more than half of the individuals stated they ‘always’ washed the produce items surveyed. This research provides insight into the distribution of environmental hazards near urban farms and food handling behaviors of consumers of urban-grown produce.
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    COUNTY AND CENSUS TRACT SOCIOECONOMIC ATTRIBUTES OF ESOPHAGEAL ADENOCARCINOMA CASES SEER 15 (2000-2007)
    (2011) Ghazarian, Armen Alex; Saksvig, Brit I; Epidemiology and Biostatistics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) incidence rates have increased among U.S. men. We examined associations between area-level socioeconomic attributes and stage at diagnosis, an important prognostic predictor of survival time. Logistic regression models were developed to estimate odds ratios (OR) adjusted for age, race, gender and year of diagnosis and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for localized and regional versus distant stage by census tract and county level socioeconomic attributes. At the county level, a high percent of foreign born population was associated with distant stage EAC: >15.4%-26.6%, (OR=1.15, 95% CI: 1.04-1.28) and >26.6% (OR 1.16, 95% CI: 1.03-1.31). Median household income from $40.8-$45.6K (OR=1.14, 95% CI: 1.01-1.28) was also associated with distant stage EAC. Conversely, residence in an urban county was associated with localized or regional stage EAC (OR=0.90, 95% CI: 0.82-0.98). Findings regarding area level disparities in EAC stage may inform cancer control efforts.