Temporal and Spatial Relationship of Ozone and Asthma

There is evidence that ozone may cause asthma. However, the effects of asthma on young children are still unclear. This study explores the relationship of daily peak ozone levels and asthma hospital admission rates at the zip code level in California’s South Coast Air Basin area during a three-year period (1997 to 1999). The Poisson regression model was used to investigate this relationship. After the adjustments were made for seasonal effect, the results demonstrated that asthma hospital admission rates for children less than 5 years old increases 11% when the daily peak ozone level increases an air quality index of 50.