Asthma Research Paper

Philip Xie, Reginald Charles, Raymond Chin

HS 430-003 Research in Health Professions

Professor Stephanie Chamberlin

12/13/15

Final Project Research Paper

What is Asthma? Asthma by definition is a chronic lung disease that inflames and narrows the airways. Due to the narrowing and inflammation of the airways, symptoms of asthma include recurring periods of wheezing, chest tightness, shortness of breath, and coughing. There are different levels of a patient’s severity of asthma. Some levels do not impact one’s life as much but the other levels may potentially impair another’s quality of life significantly. Most people diagnosed with the highest form of asthma, may be only using 50% of their total lung capacity. Due to the limited use of

We have chosen this topic because we want to find out if there is an association between the environment and the rate of asthmatic episodes. By finding an association between the environment and asthmatic episodes we could potentially help people find the right living conditions, so that they may live an active and healthy life. New York City has already been affected by the pollution caused by the events of 9/11. During the events of 9/11 dust clouds spread across lower Manhattan, the dust clouds affected the many people living and working in the area. The dust clouds had lowered the air quality in the area and because of the lower quality of air in NYC, there will be many individuals that will have difficulty breathing. New York City has also developed multiple public programs throughout the city in order to spread awareness about asthma. However, these programs do not prevent or cure asthma but only provide treatment and information on asthma. Although these programs may help improve the quality of life for some people, we still need to study and gather more information on what causes asthma and how one’s asthma may be affected by the type of environment that they are

We will be conducting this research only one time. In a sense, it is similar to a longitudinal study, however this study is being conducted 14 years after 9/11 occurred. Our study design will also be more focused on being explanatory rather than exploratory, however we will have a short explanatory section included in our study.. We will be using our questions to collect data whether or not certain factors might have an impact on an individual’s quality of life in NYC. By collecting the data, we hope that it can be used to prevent the rise of asthma in other places. Our study design for our research project will also have a comparison