A score for measuring health risk perception in environmental surveys
| Autor: | Mario Grassi, Giang Nguyen, Alessandro Marcon, Marta Rava, Marco Braggion, Maria Elisabetta Zanolin |
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| Rok vydání: | 2014 |
| Předmět: |
Questionnaires
Adult Male Parents Risk Risk perception Environmental Engineering genetic structures Psychometrics media_common.quotation_subject Air pollution Poison control Environment behavioral disciplines and activities Suicide prevention Occupational safety and health Awareness bias Optimal scaling Child Data Collection Factor Analysis Statistical Female Humans Industry Italy Perception Health Cronbach's alpha Environmental health Surveys and Questionnaires Environmental Chemistry Medicine Waste Management and Disposal media_common business.industry Confounding Statistical Pollution business Factor Analysis |
| Zdroj: | The Science of the total environment. |
| ISSN: | 1879-1026 |
| Popis: | Background In environmental surveys, risk perception may be a source of bias when information on health outcomes is reported using questionnaires. Using the data from a survey carried out in the largest chipboard industrial district in Italy (Viadana, Mantova), we devised a score of health risk perception and described its determinants in an adult population. Methods In 2006, 3697 parents of children were administered a questionnaire that included ratings on 7 environmental issues. Items dimensionality was studied by factor analysis. After testing equidistance across response options by homogeneity analysis, a risk perception score was devised by summing up item ratings. Results Factor analysis identified one latent factor, which we interpreted as health risk perception, that explained 65.4% of the variance of five items retained after scaling. The scale (range 0–10, mean ± SD 9.3 ± 1.9) had a good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha 0.87). Most subjects (80.6%) expressed maximum risk perception (score = 10). Italian mothers showed significantly higher risk perception than foreign fathers. Risk perception was higher for parents of young children, and for older parents with a higher education, than for their counterparts. Actual distance to major roads was not associated with the score, while self-reported intense traffic and frequent air refreshing at home predicted higher risk perception. Conclusions When investigating health effects of environmental hazards using questionnaires, care should be taken to reduce the possibility of awareness bias at the stage of study planning and data analysis. Including appropriate items in study questionnaires can be useful to derive a measure of health risk perception, which can help to identify confounding of association estimates by risk perception. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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