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.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11353669PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph21081010DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

air quality
36
health-related attributions
20
midlife older
20
perceptions air
16
perceptions
12
older adults
12
air
11
quality
9
san francisco
8
francisco bay
8

Similar Publications

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!