Perception Matters: Perceived vs. Objective Air Quality Measures and Asthma Diagnosis among Urban Adults

Jane E. Clougherty () and Pilar Ocampo
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Jane E. Clougherty: Department of Environmental & Occupational Health, Drexel University Dornsife School of Public Health, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
Pilar Ocampo: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 17, 1-15

Abstract: Urban air pollution is consistently linked to poorer respiratory health, particularly in communities of lower socioeconomic position (SEP), disproportionately located near highways and industrial areas and often with elevated exposures to chronic psychosocial stressors. Fewer studies, however, have considered air pollution itself as a psychosocial stressor and whether pollution may be impacting health through both direct physiologic and psychosocial pathways. We examined data on perceived air pollution exposures from a spatially representative survey of New York City adults through summer and winter 2012 ( n = 1183) using residence-specific ambient nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) and fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) exposure estimates. We used logistic regression to compare associations for perceived and objective air quality on self-reported asthma and general health, adjusting for sociodemographics and mental health. In models including all exposure metrics, we found small but significant associations for perceived air quality (OR = 1.12, 95% CI: 1.04–1.22) but not for NO 2 or PM 2.5 . Neither perceived nor objective pollution was significantly associated with self-reported general health. Results suggest that perceived air quality may be significantly associated with adult asthma, more so than objective air pollution and after adjusting for mental health—associations not observed for self-reported general health.

Keywords: perceived air quality; environmental stress; psychosocial pathways; urban air quality; adult asthma (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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