Integrating Environmental Data with Medical Data in a Records-Linkage System to Explore Groundwater Nitrogen Levels and Child Health Outcomes

Christine M. Prissel (), Brandon R. Grossardt, Gregory S. Klinger, Jennifer L. St. Sauver and Walter A. Rocca
Additional contact information
Christine M. Prissel: Division of Epidemiology, Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA
Brandon R. Grossardt: Division of Clinical Trials and Biostatistics, Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA
Gregory S. Klinger: Water Resources Center, University of Minnesota Extension, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
Jennifer L. St. Sauver: Division of Epidemiology, Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA
Walter A. Rocca: Division of Epidemiology, Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 6, 1-14

Abstract: Background : The Rochester Epidemiology Project (REP) medical records-linkage system offers a unique opportunity to integrate medical and residency data with existing environmental data, to estimate individual-level exposures. Our primary aim was to provide an archetype of this integration. Our secondary aim was to explore the association between groundwater inorganic nitrogen concentration and adverse child and adolescent health outcomes. Methods : We conducted a nested case-control study in children, aged seven to eighteen, from six counties of southeastern Minnesota. Groundwater inorganic nitrogen concentration data were interpolated, to estimate exposure across our study region. Residency data were then overlaid, to estimate individual-level exposure for our entire study population ( n = 29,270). Clinical classification software sets of diagnostic codes were used to determine the presence of 21 clinical conditions. Regression models were adjusted for age, sex, race, and rurality. Results : The analyses support further investigation of associations between nitrogen concentration and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and bronchiectasis (OR: 2.38, CI: 1.64–3.46) among boys and girls, thyroid disorders (OR: 1.44, CI: 1.05–1.99) and suicide and intentional self-inflicted injury (OR: 1.37, CI: >1.00–1.87) among girls, and attention deficit conduct and disruptive behavior disorders (OR: 1.34, CI: 1.24–1.46) among boys. Conclusions : Investigators with environmental health research questions should leverage the well-enumerated population and residency data in the REP.

Keywords: epidemiology; spatial methods; adolescent health; child health; groundwater nitrogen; records-linkage system (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:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/6/5116/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/6/5116/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:6:p:5116-:d:1096945

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().