Dataset Information

Construction of an environmental quality index for public health research.

ABSTRACT:

Background

A more comprehensive estimate of environmental quality would improve our understanding of the relationship between environmental conditions and human health. An environmental quality index (EQI) for all counties in the U.S. was developed.

Methods

The EQI was developed in four parts: domain identification; data source acquisition; variable construction; and data reduction. Five environmental domains (air, water, land, built and sociodemographic) were recognized. Within each domain, data sources were identified; each was temporally (years 2000-2005) and geographically (county) restricted. Variables were constructed for each domain and assessed for missingness, collinearity, and normality. Domain-specific data reduction was accomplished using principal components analysis (PCA), resulting in domain-specific indices. Domain-specific indices were then combined into an overall EQI using PCA. In each PCA procedure, the first principal component was retained. Both domain-specific indices and overall EQI were stratified by four rural-urban continuum codes (RUCC). Higher values for each index were set to correspond to areas with poorer environmental quality.

Results

Concentrations of included variables differed across rural-urban strata, as did within-domain variable loadings, and domain index loadings for the EQI. In general, higher values of the air and sociodemographic indices were found in the more metropolitan areas and the most thinly populated areas have the lowest values of each of the domain indices. The less-urbanized counties (RUCC 3) demonstrated the greatest heterogeneity and range of EQI scores (-4.76, 3.57) while the thinly populated strata (RUCC 4) contained counties with the most positive scores (EQI score ranges from -5.86, 2.52).

Conclusion

The EQI holds promise for improving our characterization of the overall environment for public health. The EQI describes the non-residential ambient county-level conditions to which residents are exposed and domain-specific EQI loadings indicate which of the environmental domains account for the largest portion of the variability in the EQI environment. The EQI was constructed for all counties in the United States, incorporating a variety of data to provide a broad picture of environmental conditions. We undertook a reproducible approach that primarily utilized publically-available data sources.

SUBMITTER: Messer LC

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4046025 | biostudies-literature | 2014 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Construction of an environmental quality index for public health research.

Messer Lynne C LC Jagai Jyotsna S JS Rappazzo Kristen M KM Lobdell Danelle T DT

Environmental health : a global access science source 20140522 1

<h4>Background</h4>A more comprehensive estimate of environmental quality would improve our understanding of the relationship between environmental conditions and human health. An environmental quality index (EQI) for all counties in the U.S. was developed.<h4>Methods</h4>The EQI was developed in four parts: domain identification; data source acquisition; variable construction; and data reduction. Five environmental domains (air, water, land, built and sociodemographic) were recognized. Within e ...[more]

PMID: 24886426

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Project description:ImportanceReducing exposure to fine particulate matter (<2.5 μm [PM2.5]) air pollution improves cardiopulmonary morbidity and mortality. However, the public health relevance of air quality index (AQI) activity guidelines under present-day environmental conditions in the US has not been critically assessed.ObjectiveTo evaluate the public health relevance of following PM2.5 AQI activity guidance in preventing serious atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) and pulmonary events among adults in the US.Design, setting, and participantsThis cross-sectional modeling study involved the general adult population and sensitive individuals as designated by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), including adults with preexisting ASCVD or lung disease (asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). The study was conducted between August 1, 2023, and January 31, 2024.ExposuresDaily AQI strata for PM2.5 and the corresponding activity recommendations.Main outcomes and measuresThe main outcome was the number needed to treat (NNT) per day by following activity guidance across daily AQI strata to prevent 1 serious ASCVD or pulmonary event among relevant populations. To calculate PM2.5-induced excess disease event rates per day, estimated baseline disease-specific daily event rates for each group were multiplied by the increase in risks due to PM2.5 levels at each AQI stratum. The number of events prevented per day was calculated by multiplying each excess disease event rate by the percentage in exposure reduction plausibly incurred by following population-specific activity guidance at each AQI level. The NNT is the reciprocal of the number of events prevented.ResultsThe NNT to prevent ASCVD events was high for the general population and for patients with ASCVD across all AQI strata. The range of values was comparatively lower to prevent pulmonary events among adults with lung disease. During most days (96%) when activity recommendations were promulgated due to elevated PM2.5 (AQI, 101-200), the NNT to prevent a serious disease event remained very high for the general population (>18 million), patients with ASCVD (approximately 1.6-5 million), and adults with lung disease (approximately 66 000-202 000).Conclusions and relevanceThese findings suggest that existing PM2.5 AQI activity recommendations are of questionable public health relevance in present-day conditions and merit consideration for updating to improve their potential effectiveness.

Project description:OBJECTIVE:Over the past decade, there has been an increase in reports of health research from Palestine, but no assessment of their quality. We have assessed the quality of reports of Palestinian health research and factors associated with it. DESIGN:This is a systematic review. INCLUSION CRITERIA:We searched Medline and Scopus for reports of original research relevant to human health or healthcare authored by researchers affiliated with Palestinian institutions and published between January 2000 and August 2015 inclusive. OUTCOMES:We used international guidelines to assess report quality, classifying as adequate those with ?50% of items completely addressed. RESULTS:Of 2383 reports identified, 497 met our inclusion criteria. Just over half (264; 55%) of these were published after 2010. 354 (71%) of first authors were affiliated with Palestinian institutions; 261 (53%) reports had coauthors from outside Palestine. The majority of the reports in our study were inadequately reported (342; 69%), and none had adequately reported all items. Of 439 observational studies, 11 (2.5%) reports provided adequate descriptions of eligibility criteria and selection procedures; 35 (8%) reported efforts to address potential sources of bias; 50 (11.4%) reported the basis for the study sample size; and funding sources were mentioned in 74 reports (17%). Higher reporting quality was associated with international affiliation of the first author (prevalence ratio (PR) 1.6 (95% CI 1.2 to 2.1)), international collaboration (PR 2.9 (95% CI 1.7 to 5.0)), international funding (PR 1.9 (95% CI1.5 to 2.5)), publication after 2005 (PR 3.9 (95% CI 1.8 to 8.5)) and four or more coauthors (PR 1.5 (95% CI 1.1 to 2.1)). CONCLUSION:Although the quality of reports of Palestinian research has improved in recent years, it remains well below an acceptable standard. International reporting guidelines should be used to guide research design and improve the quality of reports of research. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER:The systematic review protocol was registered in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) registery (registration number: CRD42015027553).

Dataset Information

Construction of an environmental quality index for public health research.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Publications

Construction of an environmental quality index for public health research.

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