Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley
Résumé : International audience
Despite improvements in air quality in developed countries, air pollution remains a major public health issue. To fully assess the health impact, we must consider that air pollution exposure has both physical and psychological effects; this latter dimension, less documented, is more difficult to measure and subjective indicators constitute an appropriate alternative. In this context, this work presents the methodological development of a new scale to measure the perception of air quality, useful as an exposure or risk appraisal metric in public health contexts. On the basis of the responses from 2,522 subjects in eight French cities, psychometric methods are used to construct the scale from 22 items that assess risk perception (anxiety about health and quality of life) and the extent to which air pollution is a nuisance (sensorial perception and symptoms). The scale is robust, reproducible, and discriminates between subpopulations more susceptible to poor air pollution perception. The individual risk factors of poor air pollution perception are coherent with those findings in the risk perception literature. Perception of air pollution by the general public is a key issue in the development of comprehensive risk assessment studies as well as in air pollution risk management and policy. This study offers a useful new tool to measure such efforts and to help set priorities for air quality improvements in combination with air quality measurements.
ISSN: 0272-4332

hal-00876409
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00876409
DOI : 10.1111/j.1539-6924.2012.01862.x
PUBMED : 22852801

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD John Libbey Eurotext
Résumé : International audience
ISSN: 1635-0421

hal-01118630
https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01118630
DOI : 10.1684/ers.2012.0511

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Intech
Résumé : International audience
The socio-economic status (SES) of populations has an influence on the incidence or mortality rates of numerous health outcomes, among which respiratory diseases (Prescott et al., 2003; Ellison-Loschmann et al., 2007). Considering asthma, the possible contribution of SES to overall prevalence –regardless of asthma severity-, remains controversial in industrialized countries. Several studies indicate that allergic asthma is more prevalent in more well-off populations whereas the non-allergic forms of asthma are more common in the deprived ones (Cesaroni et al., 2003; Blanc et al., 2006). On the other hand, severe asthma whatever its etiology appears to be more frequent in the latter populations, as compared to the more affluent (Basagana et al., 2004). Risk factors for exacerbations (e.g., passive smoking (Wright Subramanian, 2007), psychosocial stress (Gold & Wright, 2005), cockroach allergens (Kitch et al., 2000), and suboptimal compliance with anti-inflammatory medication (Gottlieb et al., 1995)) are generally more common among people with asthma and low SES than their better-off counterparts. These observations support the hypothesis that some factors more present in deprived populations contribute to asthma exacerbation (Mielck et al., 1996).
Air Pollution

Droits : http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/
ISBN : 978-953-307-143-5
hal-01118620
https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01118620
https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01118620/document
https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01118620/file/Ambient%20aire-%20chapter.pdf