Individual attributes as potential determinants of over-perception of air pollution among adults in South Korea

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Over-perception of air pollution is to perceive air quality worse than its actual level. It has increased social anxiety and stress, especially in South Korea for recent years. Over-perception can occur differently according to individual vulnerability, related knowledge, and coping ability explained by individual contexts like sex, age, and socioeconomic status. Identifying potential determinants of over-perception could be beneficial in improving the effectiveness of risk communication. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate individual attributes that may affect the over-perception of air pollution. METHODS: The study subjects(n=111,724) were obtained from the 2018 Community Health Survey conducted by Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Over-perception of air pollution was defined as when the respondents rated their local subjective air quality was bad even though the object air quality was good. The individual attributes included demographic factors (sex, age, and marital status), socioeconomic status (education, occupation, and household income), and health-related variables (drinking status, smoking status, self-rated health, and subjective stress level). The associations between over-perception of air pollution and individual attributes were assessed using logistic regression. RESULTS:The proportion of over-perception of air pollution in our study population was 27.4%. Over-perception was significantly associated with all demographic factors, SES, and health-related variables after adjusting for measured air pollution and other covariates. Younger respondents had higher odds ratio of over-perception (19-44 years old: OR=2.15, 95% CI=2.01-2.31, reference: over 65 years old). Housewives (OR=1.06, 95% CI=1.01-1.12, ref.: unemployment) and blue collars (OR=1.06, 95% CI=1.00-1.11, ref.: unemployment) had higher ORs than other occupations. Respondents with higher education and lower household income level were more likely to over-perceive air quality. This tendency was also shown among those who rated health and stress level bad. CONCLUSIONS:This study suggests that considering individual context would enhance the delicacy in risk communication about air pollution. KEYWORDS: Air pollution, Particulate matter, Socio-economic factors, Science communication,, Policy and practice