School of Environmental Studies, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
School of Environmental Studies, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada; Environmental Sustainability and Health Institute, Technological University Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
Sci Total Environ. 2023 Jan 20;857(Pt 3):159677. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.159677. Epub 2022 Oct 24.
Private well users in Ontario are responsible for protective actions, including source maintenance, treatment, and submitting samples for laboratory testing. However, low participation rates are reported, thus constituting a public health concern, as risk mitigation behaviours can directly reduce exposure to waterborne pathogens. The current study examined the combined effects of socio-demographic profile, experience(s), and "risk domains" (i.e., awareness, attitudes, risk perceptions and beliefs) on behaviours, and subsequently classified private well users in Ontario based on cognitive factors. A province-wide online survey (n = 1228) was employed to quantify Ontario well owners' awareness, perceptions, and behaviours in relation to their personal groundwater supply and local contamination sources. A scoring protocol for four risk domains was developed. Two-step cluster analysis was used to classify respondents based on individual risk domain scores. Logistic regression was employed to identify key variables associated with cluster membership (i.e., profile analysis). Overall, 1140 survey respondents were included for analyses. Three distinct clusters were identified based on two risk domains; groundwater awareness and source risk perception. Profile analyses indicate "low awareness and source risk perception" (Low A/SRP) members were more likely male, while "low awareness and moderate source risk perception" (Low A/Mod SRP) members were more likely female and bottled water users. Well users characterised as "high awareness and source risk perception" (High A/SRP) were more likely to report higher educational attainment and previous well water testing. Findings illustrate that socio-cognitive clusters and their components (i.e., demographics, awareness, attitudes, perceptions, experiences, and protective actions) are distinct based on the likelihood, frequency, and magnitude of waterborne pathogen exposures (i.e., risk-based). Risk-based clustering, when incorporated into quantitative microbial risk assessment, enables the development of effective risk management and communication initiatives that are demographically focused and tailored to specific sub-groups.
安大略省的私人水井用户负责采取保护措施,包括水源维护、处理以及提交样本进行实验室检测。然而,据报道,参与率较低,这构成了一个公共卫生关注点,因为风险缓解行为可以直接减少对水源性病原体的暴露。本研究考察了社会人口统计学特征、经验和“风险领域”(即意识、态度、风险感知和信念)对行为的综合影响,并随后根据认知因素对安大略省的私人水井用户进行分类。一项全省范围的在线调查(n=1228)用于量化安大略省水井所有者对个人地下水供应和当地污染来源的意识、感知和行为。制定了一个针对四个风险领域的评分方案。两步聚类分析用于根据个人风险领域得分对受访者进行分类。逻辑回归用于确定与聚类成员身份相关的关键变量(即概况分析)。总体而言,有 1140 名调查受访者被纳入分析。根据两个风险领域,即地下水意识和水源风险感知,确定了三个不同的集群。概况分析表明,“低意识和高水源风险感知”(低 A/SRP)成员更可能是男性,而“低意识和中等水源风险感知”(低 A/Mod SRP)成员更可能是女性和瓶装水使用者。被描述为“高意识和高水源风险感知”(高 A/SRP)的水井使用者更可能报告更高的教育程度和以前的井水检测。研究结果表明,基于水源性病原体暴露的可能性、频率和程度,社会认知集群及其组成部分(即人口统计学、意识、态度、感知、经验和保护措施)是不同的。基于风险的聚类,当纳入定量微生物风险评估中时,可以制定针对特定亚组的有针对性的和量身定制的有效风险管理和沟通计划。