Knowledge of Climate Change and Causes of Climate Change (Impact of Climate Change on The

Impact of Poor Air Quality on Health

MODULE INFORMATION

PURPOSE OF THE MODULE:

To determine public opinion, knowledge, attitudes and behaviours related to the impact of air quality on health.

MODULE HISTORY:

Pilot tested in Halton as part of a special request (Halton Air Quality and Climate Change Survey) in February 2009

Added to RRFSS in Cycle 4 (January 2010)

Revised:

Cycle 6* (September 2010)

-variable names changed from

• c1 to aq_health1
• c2 to aq_health2
• c3 to aq_health3
• c4 to aq_health4

Cycle 19 (January 2015)

-Interviewer prompt modified for aq_health2 and aq_health3

-Minor changes made to response option 3 for aq_health4

-aq_health5, aq_health6 and aq_health7 added

-aq_health4 – minor revision to response option 3

*Note: changes that were made to the dataset in Cycle 6 were not reflected in the CATI until Cycle 7 (January 2011)

DATA DICTIONARY HISTORY:

Created: September 28, 2011

Revised: September, 2016

October, 2014

Deleted: N/A

OTHER NOTES:

Questions for the Halton Air Quality and Climate Change Survey were developed by the Halton Region Health Department in collaboration with York University’s Institute for Social Research (ISR).

Survey questions were based on questions found in a number of different surveys including:

• Air Pollution National Survey - Air Pollution: Information Needs and the Knowledge,Attitudes and Behaviour of Canadians (Prepared for Health Canada by Environics Research Group, 2002)
• American Opinions of Global Warming (University of Oregon Survey Research Laboratory, 2002)
• Attitudes to Climate Change (Defra: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, UK, 2006)
• City of Toronto Public Opinion Survey - Attitudes and Opinions Related to the Environment (City of Toronto, 2001)
• ICM Poll on Climate Change (ICM Research Ltd, UK, 2002)
• Lambton County Air Quality Awareness Questionnaire (Lambton Health Unit, 2000)
• National Statistics Omnibus Survey – Climate Change (Great Britain, 2007)
• Outdoor Air Quality Awareness and Beliefs Module (Rapid Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2007)

MODULE QUESTIONS

VARIABLE NAME: aq_health1

VARIABLE HISTORY:

Cycle 4 (January 2010) - New variable

Cycle 6* (September 2010) - Variable name changed from c1 to aq_health1

*Note: changes that were made to the dataset in Cycle 6 were not reflected in the CATI until Cycle 7 (January 2011)

QUESTION:

Now some questions about air quality in [fill REGION1]. By air quality we mean smog and other pollutants that are in the air. In general, would you say that the air quality in <fill region> is very good, good, poor or very poor?

Interviewer: If respondent notes differences in air quality during different months/seasons,

reinforce that we are asking about air quality in general.

Response Options

1very good

3good

5poor

7very poor

0respondent insists that it depends on the season

8don’t know

9refused

ANALYSIS ISSUES:None

COMPARABILITY TO OTHER SURVEYS: See Other Notes under Module Information

VALIDITY/RELIABILITY TESTS: No reliability or validity tests

EVALUATION QUESTIONS: Cycle 4 (January 2010)

MODULE QUESTIONS

VARIABLE NAME: aq_health2

VARIABLE HISTORY:

Cycle 4 (January 2010) - New variable

Cycle 6* (September 2010) - Variable name changed from c2 to aq_health2

Cycle 19 (January 2015) – “only if asked” added to interviewer prompt

*Note: changes that were made to the dataset in Cycle 6 were not reflected in the CATI until Cycle 7 (January 2011)

Cycle 25 (January 2017) – “or is this something you are not sure about”, was removed from the end of the question.

QUESTION:

Do you think that air quality in [fill REGION1] has improved, stayed the same, or become worse in the last five years?

Interviewer: Only if asked, by air quality we mean smog and other pollutants that are in the air.

Response Options

1improved

3stayed the same

5become worse

8don’t know

9refused

ANALYSIS ISSUES:None

COMPARABILITY TO OTHER SURVEYS: See Other Notes under Module Information

VALIDITY/RELIABILITY TESTS: No reliability or validity tests

EVALUATION QUESTIONS: Cycle 4 (January 2010)

MODULE QUESTIONS

VARIABLE NAME: aq_health3

VARIABLE HISTORY:

Cycle 4 (January 2010) - New variable

Cycle 6* (September 2010) - Variable name changed from c3 to aq_health3

Cycle 19 (January 2015) - “only if asked” and “and lung” added to interviewer prompt

Cycle 20 (May 2015) – skip into module changed. Respondents who don’t know or refuse to answer aq_health1 (aq_health1=8, 9) now skip out of the module instead of being asked this question

*Note: changes that were made to the dataset in Cycle 6 were not reflected in the CATI until Cycle 7 (January 2011)

Cycle 25 (January 2017) – Skip pattern changed; aq_health3 now asked to all respondents.

QUESTION:

Has poor air quality affected your health or the health of your family in any way?

Interviewer: Only if asked, by air quality we mean smog and other pollutants that are in the air. Air quality may affect people's health by causing breathing problems, making allergies worse or making health conditions such as heart and lung disease worse.

Response Options

1yes

5no

8don’t know

9refused

ANALYSIS ISSUES:

• Prior to Cycle 25, aq_health3 was only asked if respondents indicate that the air quality is poor or very poor, orit depends on the season (aq_health1= 5, 7, 0)
• Household variable – do not weight

COMPARABILITY TO OTHER SURVEYS: See Other Notes under Module Information

VALIDITY/RELIABILITY TESTS: No reliability or validity tests

EVALUATION QUESTIONS: Cycle 4 (January 2010)

MODULE QUESTIONS

VARIABLE NAME: aq_health4

VARIABLE HISTORY:

Cycle 4 (January 2010) - New variable

Cycle 6* (September 2010) - Variable name changed from c4 to aq_health4

Cycle 19 (January 2015) -“could include things like bronchitis or COPD” added to response option 3

*Note: changes that were made to the dataset in Cycle 6 were not reflected in the CATI until Cycle 7 (January 2011)

QUESTION:

How has poor air quality affected your health or the health of your family?

Interviewer: do not read list, code when possible; use 'other' as required.

Response Options

1asthma (R or other family member got asthma or asthma has become worse)

2allergies (R or other family member developed allergies or allergies

have become worse)

3difficulty breathing (could include things like bronchitis or COPD) (R or other family

member)

0other, specify

8don’t know

9refused

ANALYSIS ISSUES:

• Only asked if respondents indicate that air quality has affected their health or the health of their family (aq_health3=1)
• Look at text files for other specify (aq_health4=0)
• Household variable – do not weight

COMPARABILITY TO OTHER SURVEYS: See Other Notes under Module Information

VALIDITY/RELIABILITY TESTS: No reliability or validity tests

EVALUATION QUESTIONS: Cycle 4 (January 2010)

MODULE INDICATORS

Attitude Towards Air Quality in Region

INDICATOR DESCRIPTION:

• % of adults (18+) who think the air quality in their region is very good, good, poor, or very poor
• % of adults (18+) who indicate that air quality in their region has improved, stayed the same, or become worse

INDICATOR OBJECTIVES:

• To determine public attitudes regarding air quality within their region

ANALYSIS CHECK LIST:

• Denominator is all adults (18+)
• Include responses of aq_health1=0 (it depends) in the denominator.
• Categories can be combined (for example poor and very poor) depending on data needs, sample size and CV’s
• aq_health2 was influenced by the previous wording, with a high percentage of respondents reporting “don’t know”.

METHOD OF CALCULATION:

Air Quality in Region

# adults (18+) who think the air quality in region is very good (aq_health1=1)
all adults (18+)
# adults (18+) who think the air quality in region is good (aq_health1=3)
all adults (18+)
# adults (18+) who think the air quality in region is poor (aq_health1=5)
all adults (18+)
# adults (18+) who think the air quality in region is very poor (aq_health1=7)
all adults (18+)

Changes in Air Quality

# adults (18+) who think the air quality in region has improved (aq_health2=1)
all adults (18+)
# adults (18+) who think the air quality in region has stayed the same (aq_health2=3)
all adults (18+)
# adults (18+) who think the air quality in region has become worse (aq_health2=5)
all adults (18+)

MODULE INDICATORS

Impact of Air quality on Health

INDICATOR DESCRIPTION:

• % households indicating that poor air quality has affected their health or the health of their family
• % of households indicating that poor air quality caused asthma, allergies or difficulty breathing for themselves or their family

INDICATOR OBJECTIVES:

• To determine the impact of poor air quality on health

ANALYSIS CHECK LIST:

• aq_health3 and aq_health4 are household variables and should not be weighted
• Denominator for aq_health3 is all adults (18+).
• Prior to January 2017, the denominator for aq_health4 was adults who indicate that poor air quality has affected their health (aq_health3=1)
• Review text files for other specify option for aq_health4

METHOD OF CALCULATION:

Impact of Poor Air Quality on Health

# households thatindicate that poor air quality has affected their health (aq_health3=1)
all adults (18+)

Health Problems caused by Poor Air Quality

# households that indicate poor air quality caused asthma (aq_health4=1)
all adults (18+)
# households that who indicate poor air quality caused allergies (aq_health4=2)
all adults (18+)
# households that indicate poor air quality caused difficulty breathing (aq_health4=3)
all adults (18+)

Rapid Risk Factor Surveillance System (RRFSS)