Citizens’ perception, concerns and interests with respect to air pollution and health-related risks: Mapping out a local epidemiological research agenda using results from online surveys and community meetings in Barcelona, Spain

Abstract

Background: Health risks of air pollution have attracted considerable attention, both scholarly and within the lay public. However, the latter remains rarely involved in defining the air pollution-related research agenda. We aim to present the results from the first stages of a citizen science epidemiological study in Barcelona within CitieS-Health project. The objectives were to shed light on matters of concern, perceptions and interests amongst Barcelona residents regarding air pollution and health, to translate them into a meaningful research question for the community, and to determine with the citizens a type of experimental design for which they would be interested to participate.Methods: An online survey was shared during summer 2019 and 488 Barcelona residents responded. Responses were analyzed using a mixed-method including descriptive statistics, word frequency count and qualitative coding. A total of 557 residents responded to the second survey to choose which question they would like to investigate with scientists. Community meetings were organized to narrow down the research question topics, and to pinpoint the experimental design type that citizens would like to engage.Results: Results show that almost 95% of the sample perceived the air as polluted. Respiratory problems and mental health emerged as the main health preoccupations and priorities of investigation. The most popular research question was "How does air pollution together with noise and green/blue spaces affect mental health?". The preferred study design was an observational study in which citizens provide daily repeated measures of mental health outcomes (cognition, stress and mood) and relate them to the air pollution concentrations.Conclusions: The co-created formulation of a locally-relevant environmental health research question ensures that the epidemiological study will focus on issues of interest to the community. The first version of the study protocol will soon be publicly shared for citizens to incorporate their feedback.