89. Diane McLean , PhD, MPH - Stress, Trauma, And Asthma Among Adults In Harlem Diane mclean, PhD, MPH, is an epidemiologist and director of the Childhood Asthma Thestudy, led by myself and sally Findley, PhD, was designed to discover http://www.nyam.org/publications/online/asthmaconference/MCLEAN-F.htm |
WORKING TOGETHER TO COMBAT Urban Asthma Conference hosted by the Center for Urban Epidemiologic Studies at The New York Academy of Medicine , May 4 and 5, 1998 Stress, Trauma, and Asthma among Adults in Harlem (2000 words) Diane McLean, PhD, MPH Diane McLean, PhD, MPH, is an epidemiologist and director of the Childhood Asthma Initiative in the division of community pediatrics at the Montefiore Medical Canter. The Childhood Asthma Initiative is a multidisciplinary, primary care-based program and is a partnership of the Children's Health Fund, Montefiore Medical Center, and the Schering-Plough Corporation. Asthma is a multifactorial disease whose risk factors are not completely understood. Today, I am going to describe preliminary findings from the Risk Factors for Asthma Study. The study, led by myself and Sally Findley, PhD, was designed to discover clues about asthma in high-risk populationswith a special focus on adults in Harlemthat might allow us to develop better interventions and assess the extent of undetected cases of asthma in underserved communities. We were especially interested in identifying the full range of potential risk factors for asthma prevalence in a neighborhood where asthma mortality and morbidity have been rising. In addition, we hoped to distinguish the independent effects of race and ethnicity and community factors by comparing our findings in Harlem with national data. We expected to find that asthma prevalence would be associated with a range of factors: allergens and irritants, socioeconomic characteristics, absence of a primary care provider, race and ethnicity, depression, and psychosocial stressors. Some of our most interesting preliminary findings have to do with the impact of traumatic or stressful experiences on asthma and asthma symptoms. | |
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