Stanford Prevention Research Center, Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94304, USA.
Department of Epidemiology & Population Health, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94304, USA.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2024 Jul 31;21(8):1010. doi: 10.3390/ijerph21081010.
This investigation explored (1) correlations between midlife and older adults' air quality perceptions with objective particulate matter 2.5 (PM) and diesel PM, and (2) correlations between air quality perceptions with health-related attributions among a sample of midlife and older adults ( = 66) living in or around senior affordable public housing sites in California's San Francisco Bay Area. The adapted air quality perception scale was used to measure perceptions of air quality, while health-related attributions were obtained from the vitality plus scale (VPS), with higher values indicating worse perceptions of air quality and poorer responses to health-related attributions, respectively. Self-reported data were linked to zip code level PM and diesel PM obtained from the CalEnviroScreen 4.0. All correlations were evaluated using Spearman's rank correlations. The mean (SD) age was 70.6 (9.1) years, and 75.7% were female. We observed moderate, positive correlations between both PM and diesel PM with three domains: perceptions related to protection measures against air quality, emotional/mental perceptions, and sensorial perceptions. We also found evidence of moderate, positive correlations between the domains of physical symptoms, perceptions related to protection measures against air quality, and emotional/mental perceptions with health-related attributions, such as sleep-related items and feelings of restlessness or agitation. Results from this exploratory study suggest that midlife and older adults' perceptions of air quality may be moderately related to both objective air quality data and certain health behaviors and symptoms. Findings underscore the importance of considering individual perceptions as an additional area in public health strategies aimed at protecting midlife and older adults from the impacts of air pollution.
（1）在加利福尼亚州旧金山湾区居住或临近老年人经济适用房的中老年群体中，他们的空气质量感知与客观的细颗粒物 2.5（PM2.5）和柴油颗粒物之间的相关性；（2）空气质量感知与健康归因之间的相关性。研究采用改良后的空气质量感知量表来测量空气质量感知，而健康归因则通过活力 plus 量表（VPS）获得，其中得分越高表示空气质量感知越差，对健康归因的反应越差。自报数据与邮政编码水平的 PM2.5 和柴油颗粒物相关联，这些数据来自 CalEnviroScreen 4.0。所有相关性均使用斯皮尔曼等级相关进行评估。平均（SD）年龄为 70.6（9.1）岁，75.7%为女性。我们观察到 PM2.5 和柴油颗粒物与三个领域均存在中度正相关：与空气质量保护措施相关的感知、情绪/心理感知和感官感知。我们还发现，身体症状、与空气质量保护措施相关的感知以及情绪/心理感知与健康归因（如与睡眠相关的项目和不安或烦躁的感觉）之间存在中度正相关的证据。这项探索性研究的结果表明，中老年人对空气质量的感知可能与客观空气质量数据以及某些健康行为和症状存在中度相关性。这些发现强调了在旨在保护中老年人免受空气污染影响的公共卫生策略中，考虑个体感知作为一个额外领域的重要性。
