Problem Description:
According to the National Health Interview Survey conducted in 2015, an estimated 25 million Americans are affected by asthma (Centers for Disease Control and Health Prevention, 2015). Half of asthma cases are hereditary, while the other half are caused by environmental factors. A number of plants have been identified as common asthma triggers, with plane trees identified as a major source of pollen (Asthma Respiratory Foundation NZ, 2017). However, other studies have also shown that only 25 per cent of people are allergic to pollen from plane trees (Sercombe et al., 2011). As this study conducted at Sydney University only involved 64 people, my project aims to expand existing research by analyzing the effect of London plane trees on asthma hospitalization discharge rates.
Data:
Data from the Street Tree Census and the local asthma hospitalization rate will be used. The 2015 Street Tree Census include details on every street tree in New York City, including specific information about the species, size and health of the trees. Preliminary data processing identified 5 most common tree types in the City (Figure 1), and the London plane Tree was the most common of all tree types. The data will be cleaned to include only London plane trees. Asthma Hospital Discharge data for counties in New York by zip code is available from the New York State Department of Health. The data records discharge rates and absolute numbers of discharges on the zip code level. This data is useful as the distribution and count of plane trees across the city can be compared with asthma hospitalization rates at the zip code level. This data is however limited by the lack of timestamps in the asthma dataset. While I know that flowering for plane trees occurs in spring during April and May, and pollination occurs in October, lasting till early winter, specific analysis on the effect of plane trees on asthma discharge rates specifically during pollinating period cannot be conducted. This implies that the relationship identified may not be as significant due to influence by other factors during other times of the year.