School of Public Management, South-Central University for Nationalities, Wuhan 430074, China.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019 Jun 21;16(12):2190. doi: 10.3390/ijerph16122190.
Ethnic minority areas in southwestern China are facing frequent high-temperature heatwaves. The health risk perceptions and responses of the local residents need to be investigated in order to formulate public policies to mitigate the impacts of climate change on health. In this study, a household survey was conducted in Pengshui Miao and Tujia Autonomous County of Chongqing from January to February 2019. A total of 624 local residents were sampled using the multi-stage sampling method. We used multivariate logistic regression models to explore the factors affecting risk perceptions and responses with regard to hot weather. The results showed that despite a relatively high level of risk perception, the study population had a very low level of willingness to see a doctor (24.4%), especially ethnic minority residents (17.5%). In particular, 80% of residents were aware of climate warming and 79% of residents were aware of the health risks of hot weather. Almost all survey participants reported a response to hot weather, with more than half of the participants stating that they would go somewhere cooler (58.5%) and drink more water (56.3%). Compared with the Han Chinese, ethnic minority participants had a higher perception of warm temperature ( <0.001) and associated health risks ( <0.001) but a lower perception of physical discomfort ( <0.001) and aggravated diseases ( = 0.001). The logistic models indicated that ethnic minority, residence time, outdoor working hours, and health status can significantly influence perceptions and subsequently significantly affect coping behaviors. In conclusion, our findings provide significant implications for the development of policies and health education and promotion programs for ethnic minorities in southwest China to aid them in maintaining good health during future hot weather events.
中国西南少数民族地区经常遭受高温热浪的侵袭。为了制定减轻气候变化对健康影响的公共政策，需要调查当地居民的健康风险感知和应对情况。本研究于 2019 年 1 月至 2 月在重庆市彭水苗族土家族自治县采用多阶段抽样方法，对 624 名当地居民进行了家庭调查。我们使用多变量逻辑回归模型探讨了影响热天气风险感知和应对的因素。结果表明，尽管风险感知水平相对较高，但研究人群看医生的意愿非常低（24.4%），特别是少数民族居民（17.5%）。特别是，80%的居民意识到气候变暖，79%的居民意识到热天气对健康的危害。几乎所有的调查参与者都对热天气做出了回应，超过一半的参与者表示会去更凉爽的地方（58.5%）和多喝水（56.3%）。与汉族相比，少数民族参与者对温暖温度（<0.001）和相关健康风险（<0.001）的感知更高，但对身体不适（<0.001）和加重疾病（=0.001）的感知较低。逻辑模型表明，民族、居住时间、户外工作时间和健康状况可以显著影响感知，进而显著影响应对行为。总之，我们的研究结果为中国西南少数民族制定政策和开展健康教育与促进项目提供了重要启示，以帮助他们在未来的热天气事件中保持良好的健康状况。
