Abstract

Environmental science communication integrated into environmental epidemiological research is a measure to raise community awareness of neighborhood environment-related health issues and impact health behavior. However, little data exists on the effect of communication practice on the participants in collaborative epidemiological research. We aimed to evaluate environmental science communication’s effect on study participants’ ecological knowledge, physical activity, and health, and examine the relationship between urban-built and perceived neighborhood environments’ quality and health risk. This was an environmental epidemiological collaborative study, using a cross-sectional study design, individual-level data, evidence-based environmental science communication, and geographic information systems methodology, which included 714 population-based 45-64-year-old citizens. We measured residential traffic flows and perceived neighborhood environmental quality. Health outcomes were measured by physician-diagnosed chronic disease and self-rated health. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the associations between combined environmental factors, perceived environmental quality, physical activity, and the risk of poor health. Environmental science communication improved participants’ ecological knowledge. There were significant differences in rating of the acquired knowledge, individual environmental quality perceptions, stress level, and self-rated health risk. Perceived poor environmental quality was independently associated with stress level and self-rated poor health risks. High ecological education impact was associated with significantly lower stress level and poor health risk (adjusted odds ratios 0.61 and 0.72, accordingly). We found a significant indirect association between physical activity in parks, stress level and health risk. Environmental science communication had the potential to increase public health benefits to society by influencing ecological awareness and health behavior. The perceived ambient air pollution might be used as an indicator of poor environmental quality that impacts citizens’ health risk and should guide policies aimed at improving health and air quality in cities.

Keywords: Urban environment, science communication, perceived environmental quality, health risk, physical activity, collaborative epidemiological research.