Assessment of knowledge, attitude and practices against inhaled particulate matter among urban residents in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Purpose In order to reduce the health impacts of air pollution effectively, developing strategies that involves individual or community level is crucial. The purpose of this paper is to assess people’s protective practices for inhalable particulate matter and its significant determinants such as general characteristics, knowledge and attitude among residents of an urban residential area, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Design/methodology/approach This cross-sectional study was conducted by systematic random sampling. A total of 424 people, who lived in that area for not less than two years before the survey, were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. χ2 and Fisher’s exact test were used to analyze the data. Findings Only a small proportion of respondents had high practice level. In addition, a little more than half has high level of knowledge about inhalable particulate matter, its adverse health effects and protective practices and almost 70 percent had high level of attitude toward air pollution. The protective practices for small inhalable particulate matter was significantly associated with age, educational level, occupation, knowledge and attitude toward small inhalable particulate matter, its adverse health effects and protective measures. Originality/value A good level of knowledge about the prevailing air pollution and related health risks can be crucial to develop more focused attempt at changing the current situation with public participation. The environmental experts and health volunteer should disseminate precise and adequate information about long-term health hazards of particulate matter and measures of exposure prevention to improve the protective practices.

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Late Breaking Abstract - Differential toxicities of particulate matter components linked to air pollution and adverse health effects

10.1183/13993003.congress-2021.pa3195 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Sofie Orell ◽

Nilofar Faruqui ◽

Jenny Rissler ◽

Nora Marek ◽

Daniel Kalbermatter ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Particulate Matter ◽

Health Effects ◽

Adverse Health Effects ◽

Adverse Health ◽

Particulate Matter Components

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Future climate and adverse health effects caused by fine particulate matter air pollution: case study for Poland

Regional Environmental Change ◽

10.1007/s10113-012-0366-6 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 13 (3) ◽

pp. 705-715 ◽

Cited By ~ 28

Author(s):

Marko Tainio ◽

Katarzyna Juda-Rezler ◽

Magdalena Reizer ◽

Aleksander Warchałowski ◽

Wojciech Trapp ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Particulate Matter ◽

Health Effects ◽

Fine Particulate Matter ◽

Future Climate ◽

Adverse Health Effects ◽

Adverse Health ◽

Fine Particulate

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Nurses' knowledge and attitude towards COVID-19 in the context of the acute health care settings in Jordan

International Journal of Human Rights in Healthcare ◽

10.1108/ijhrh-02-2021-0037 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Sajidah Alhwamdih ◽

Hamzeh Y. Abunab ◽

Abdullah Ahmad Algunmeeyn ◽

Imad Alfayoumi ◽

Sana Hawamdeh

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Acute Care ◽

Health Care Facilities ◽

Content Type ◽

Increased Risk ◽

Level Of Knowledge ◽

Acute Care Settings ◽

Knowledge And Attitude ◽

High Level ◽

Nurses Knowledge

Purpose Nurses are at the front line in facing the COVID-19 outbreak and are at increased risk of becoming infected and might be the source of transmission in health-care facilities and the community. The purpose of this study is to assess the knowledge and attitude toward COVID1-19 among nurses in acute care settings in Jordan. This is expected to help with the global initiative to combat the COVID-19 epidemic. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional design was used to survey nurses' knowledge and attitude of COVID-19 among Jordanian nurses working in acute care settings. Findings The grand mean of knowledge items response was 8.94, implying that respondents possessed a high level of knowledge. The overall attitude score was positive for the participants, with a mean score of 5.93. Moreover, the results showed a significant relationship between knowledge and attitude scores. Originality/value The findings suggest that nurses in Jordan showed a high level of knowledge and a positive attitude toward COVID-19 during the outbreak's rapid rise period. This study showed specific aspects of knowledge and attitudes that should be focused on in future awareness and educational programs to promote all preventive and safety measures of COVID-19.

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New Opportunities to Mitigate the Burden of Disease Caused by Traffic Related Air Pollution: Antioxidant-Rich Diets and Supplements

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph17020630 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (2) ◽

pp. 630 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Jillian Barthelemy ◽

Kristen Sanchez ◽

Mark R. Miller ◽

Haneen Khreis

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Health Effects ◽

Burden Of Disease ◽

Vegetable Consumption ◽

Wide Spectrum ◽

Preventive Measure ◽

Adverse Health Effects ◽

Adverse Health ◽

Antioxidant Intake ◽

Antioxidant Supplements

Air pollution is associated with premature mortality and a wide spectrum of diseases. Traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) is one of the most concerning sources of air pollution for human exposure and health. Until TRAP levels can be significantly reduced on a global scale, there is a need for effective shorter-term strategies to prevent the adverse health effects of TRAP. A growing number of studies suggest that increasing antioxidant intake, through diet or supplementation, may reduce this burden of disease. In this paper, we conducted a non-systematic literature review to assess the available evidence on antioxidant-rich diets and antioxidant supplements as a strategy to mitigate adverse health effects of TRAP in human subjects. We identified 11 studies that fit our inclusion criteria; 3 of which investigated antioxidant-rich diets and 8 of which investigated antioxidant supplements. Overall, we found consistent evidence that dietary intake of antioxidants from adherence to the Mediterranean diet and increased fruit and vegetable consumption is effective in mitigating adverse health effects associated with TRAP. In contrast, antioxidant supplements, including fish oil, olive oil, and vitamin C and E supplements, presented conflicting evidence. Further research is needed to determine why antioxidant supplementation has limited efficacy and whether this relates to effective dose, supplement formulation, timing of administration, or population being studied. There is also a need to better ascertain if susceptible populations, such as children, the elderly, asthmatics and occupational workers consistently exposed to TRAP, should be recommended to increase their antioxidant intake to reduce their burden of disease. Policymakers should consider increasing populations’ antioxidant intake, through antioxidant-rich diets, as a relatively cheap and easy preventive measure to lower the burden of disease associated with TRAP.

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Premature Adult Mortality and Years of Life Lost Attributed to Long-Term Exposure to Ambient Particulate Matter Pollution and Potential for Mitigating Adverse Health Effects in Tuzla and Lukavac, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Atmosphere ◽

10.3390/atmos11101107 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (10) ◽

pp. 1107

Author(s):

Vlatka Matkovic ◽

Maida Mulić ◽

Selma Azabagić ◽

Marija Jevtić

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Air Quality ◽

Life Expectancy ◽

Health Effects ◽

Bosnia And Herzegovina ◽

Ambient Air ◽

World Health ◽

Years Of Life Lost ◽

Adverse Health Effects ◽

Adverse Health

Ambient air pollution is one of eight global risk factors for deaths and accounts for 38.44 all causes death rates attributable to ambient PM pollution, while in Bosnia and Herzegovina, it is 58.37. We have estimated health endpoints and possible gains if two policy scenarios were implemented and air pollution reduction achieved. Real-world health and recorded PM pollution data for 2018 were used for assessing the health impacts and possible gains. Calculations were performed with WHO AirQ+ software against two scenarios with cut-off levels at country-legal values and WHO air quality recommendations. Ambient PM2.5 pollution is responsible for 16.20% and 22.77% of all-cause mortality among adults in Tuzla and Lukavac, respectively. Our data show that life expectancy could increase by 2.1 and 2.4 years for those cities. In the pollution hotspots, in reality, there is a wide gap in what is observed and the implementation of the legally binding air quality limit values and, thus, adverse health effects. Considerable health gains and life expectancy are possible if legal or health scenarios in polluted cities were achieved. This estimate might be useful in providing additional health burden evidence as a key component for a clean air policy and action plans.

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Guideline for the prevention and management of particulate matter/yellow dust-induced adverse health effects on the patients with bronchial asthma

Journal of Korean Medical Association ◽

10.5124/jkma.2015.58.11.1034 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 58 (11) ◽

pp. 1034 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Hyeon-Jong Yang ◽

Sang-Heon Kim ◽

An-Soo Jang ◽

Sang-Hoon Kim ◽

Woo-Jung Song ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Particulate Matter ◽

Health Effects ◽

Bronchial Asthma ◽

Adverse Health Effects ◽

Adverse Health

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Protective Effect of Breastfeeding on the Adverse Health Effects Induced by Air Pollution: Current Evidence and Possible Mechanisms

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph16214181 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 16 (21) ◽

pp. 4181 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Zielinska ◽

Hamulka

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Protective Effect ◽

Health Effects ◽

Protective Effects ◽

Negative Effects ◽

Under Five ◽

Adverse Health Effects ◽

Adverse Health ◽

Air Pollution Exposure ◽

Pollution Exposure

Air pollution is a major social, economic, and health problem around the world. Children are particularly susceptible to the negative effects of air pollution due to their immaturity and excessive growth and development. The aims of this narrative review were to: (1) summarize evidence about the protective effects of breastfeeding on the adverse health effects of air pollution exposure, (2) define and describe the potential mechanisms underlying the protective effects of breastfeeding, and (3) examine the potential effects of air pollution on breastmilk composition and lactation. A literature search was conducted using electronic databases. Existing evidence suggests that breastfeeding has a protective effect on adverse outcomes of indoor and outdoor air pollution exposure in respiratory (infections, lung function, asthma symptoms) and immune (allergic, nervous and cardiovascular) systems, as well as under-five mortality in both developing and developed countries. However, some studies reported no protective effect of breastfeeding or even negative effects of breastfeeding for under-five mortality. Several possible mechanisms of the breastfeeding protective effect were proposed, including the beneficial influence of breastfeeding on immune, respiratory, and nervous systems, which are related to the immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, and neuroprotective properties of breastmilk. Breastmilk components responsible for its protective effect against air pollutants exposure may be long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC PUFA), antioxidant vitamins, carotenoids, flavonoids, immunoglobins, and cytokines, some of which have concentrations that are diet-dependent. However, maternal exposure to air pollution is related to increased breastmilk concentrations of pollutants (e.g., Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) or heavy metals in particulate matter (PM)). Nonetheless, environmental studies have confirmed that breastmilk’s protective effects outweigh its potential health risk to the infant. Mothers should be encouraged and supported to breastfeed their infants due to its unique health benefits, as well as its limited ecological footprint, which is associated with decreased waste production and the emission of pollutants.

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Air Pollution as a Cause of Obesity: Micro-Level Evidence from Chinese Cities

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph16214296 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 16 (21) ◽

pp. 4296 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Zhiming Yang ◽

Qianhao Song ◽

Jing Li ◽

Yunquan Zhang

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Particle Size ◽

Health Effects ◽

Multinomial Logit Model ◽

Ordinary Least Squares ◽

Adverse Health Effects ◽

Adverse Health ◽

Individual Vulnerability ◽

The Government ◽

The Impact

Chinese air pollution is obviously increasing, and the government makes efforts to strengthen air pollution treatment. Although adverse health effects gradually emerge, research determining individual vulnerability is limited. This study estimated the relationship between air pollution and obesity. Individual information of 13,414 respondents from 125 cities is used in the analysis. This study employs ordinary least squares (OLS) and multinomial logit model (m-logit) to estimate the impact of air pollution on obesity. We choose different air pollution and Body Mass Index (BMI) indicators for estimation. Empirical results show Air Quality Index (AQI) is significantly positively associated with the BMI score. As AQI adds one unit, the BMI score increases 0.031 (SE = 0.002; p < 0.001). The influence coefficients of particle size smaller than 2.5 μm (PM2.5), particle size smaller than 10 μm (PM10), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ozone (O3), and sulfur dioxide (SO2) to the BMI score are 0.034 (SE = 0.002; p < 0.001), 0.023 (SE = 0.001; p < 0.001), 0.52 (SE = 0.095; p < 0.001), 0.045 (SE = 0.004; p < 0.001), 0.021 (SE = 0.002; p < 0.001), 0.008 (SE = 0.003; p = 0.015), respectively. Generally, air pollution has an adverse effect on body weight. CO is the most influential pollutant, and female, middle-aged, and low-education populations are more severely affected. The results confirm that the adverse health effects of air pollution should be considered when making the air pollution policies. Findings also provide justification for health interventions, especially for people with obesity.

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