3 research outputs found
Geospatial relationships of air pollution and acute asthma events across the Detroit–Windsor international border: Study design and preliminary results
The Geospatial Determinants of Health Outcomes Consortium (GeoDHOC) study investigated ambient air quality across the international border between Detroit, Michigan, USA and Windsor, Ontario, Canada and its association with acute asthma events in 5- to 89-year-old residents of these cities. NO2, SO2, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were measured at 100 sites, and particulate matter (PM) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) at 50 sites during two 2-week sampling periods in 2008 and 2009. Acute asthma event rates across neighborhoods in each city were calculated using emergency room visits and hospitalizations and standardized to the overall age and gender distribution of the population in the two cities combined. Results demonstrate that intra-urban air quality variations are related to adverse respiratory events in both cities. Annual 2008 asthma rates exhibited statistically significant positive correlations with total VOCs and total benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene (BTEX) at 5-digit zip code scale spatial resolution in Detroit. In Windsor, NO2, VOCs, and PM10 concentrations correlated positively with 2008 asthma rates at a similar 3-digit postal forward sortation area scale. The study is limited by its coarse temporal resolution (comparing relatively short term air quality measurements to annual asthma health data) and interpretation of findings is complicated by contrasts in population demographics and health-care delivery systems in Detroit and Windsor
Application of the transtheoretical model to research on factory workers use of hearing protection.
In the United States the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH, 1996) estimated that more than 30 million workers are exposed to harmful levels of noise on the job, making noise one of the most prevalent occupational health hazards. Use of hearing protection devices (HPDs), as a behavior control method, becomes necessary when worker noise exposure remains at unsafe levels. Past studies of HPD use have demonstrated that worker HPD utilization is below what is required to protect workers (Lusk, Kerr, Ronis, & Eakin, 1999). To prevent noise induced hearing loss it is essential that workers increase their use of HPDs. The specific aims of this project were (a) to evaluate the utility of the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) for staging the behavior of use of hearing protection in factory workers, and (b) to test the TTM suppositions as applied to factory workers' stages of hearing protection use. This project was a secondary analysis of previously collected data from the National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Nursing Research funded research project, Grant number 2R01NR0250, principal investigator Dr. Sally L. Lusk, titled Test of Interventions to Prevent Workers' Hearing Loss. Conceptual links between the original project's framework and the TTM were theorized to support the statistical analyses performed. The findings supported the presence of distinct HPD use stages. Significant differences were found in measures of Social Norms, Social Models, Interpersonal Support, Perceived Barriers, Perceived Benefits, and Self-efficacy by stages of BPD use. These differences were in the theoretically expected directions, consistent with hypotheses based on the TTM. Alternative outcome measurement methods including percent change, dichotomous (goal met versus not met), and changes in stage were examined. The stage change analyses provided a more detailed picture of changes in HPD use following interventions. These findings supported the TTM as a useful heuristic perspective on behavioral change applied to factory workers' use of HPDs. Considering implications for future research, the findings suggest that the TTM offers a meaningful framework for designing future interventions tailored to the TTM stages.Ph.D.Health and Environmental SciencesNursingOccupational safetyUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/124541/2/3150072.pd
Geospatial relationships of air pollution and acute asthma events across the Detroit–Windsor international border: Study design and preliminary results
The Geospatial Determinants of Health Outcomes Consortium (GeoDHOC) study investigated ambient air quality across the international border between Detroit, Michigan, USA and Windsor, Ontario, Canada and its association with acute asthma events in 5- to 89-year-old residents of these cities. NO2, SO2, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were measured at 100 sites, and particulate matter (PM) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) at 50 sites during two 2-week sampling periods in 2008 and 2009. Acute asthma event rates across neighborhoods in each city were calculated using emergency room visits and hospitalizations and standardized to the overall age and gender distribution of the population in the two cities combined. Results demonstrate that intra-urban air quality variations are related to adverse respiratory events in both cities. Annual 2008 asthma rates exhibited statistically significant positive correlations with total VOCs and total benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene (BTEX) at 5-digit zip code scale spatial resolution in Detroit. In Windsor, NO2, VOCs, and PM10 concentrations correlated positively with 2008 asthma rates at a similar 3-digit postal forward sortation area scale. The study is limited by its coarse temporal resolution (comparing relatively short term air quality measurements to annual asthma health data) and interpretation of findings is complicated by contrasts in population demographics and health-care delivery systems in Detroit and Windsor