Impact of Coal-fired Power Plant Emissions on Children’s Health: A Systematic Review of the Epidemiological Literature

Coal-based energy production is the most utilized method of electricity production worldwide and releases the highest concentration of gaseous, particulate, and metallic pollutants. This article aims to systematically review the public health impact of coal-fired power plant emissions on children’s health. PubMed, Web of Science, and Toxline databases were queried for the past 20 years. Inclusion criteria included original scientific articles with (a) coal-fired power plant exposure assessment, (b) at least one primary pediatric health outcome, and (c) assessment of potential sources of confounding and bias. Only morbidity and mortality studies were included; economic analysis and risk assessment studies without a primary health outcome were not included. Of 513 articles initially retrieved, 17 epidemiological articles were included in the final systematic review after screening and eligibility. The articles reviewed showed a statistically significant adverse effect on pediatric neurodevelopment; birth weight and pediatric respiratory morbidity was associated with exposure to coal-fired power plant emissions, primarily particulate matter and polyaromatic hydrocarbon exposure. There is a lack of consistency of exposure assessment and inadequate control of significant potential confounders such as social economic status. Future research should focus on improving exposure assessment models with an emphasis on source-apportionment and geographic information system methods to model power plant-specific emissions.

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Blending Indigenous Sharing Circle and Western Focus Group Methodologies for the Study of Indigenous Children’s Health: A Systematic Review

International Journal of Qualitative Methods ◽

10.1177/16094069211015112 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 20 ◽

pp. 160940692110151

Author(s):

Sarah C. Hunt ◽

Nancy L. Young

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Focus Group ◽

Focus Groups ◽

Qualitative Content Analysis ◽

Children's Health ◽

Children’S Health ◽

Community Advisory Board ◽

Original Research ◽

Research Approach ◽

Sharing Circles

The primary objective of this systematic review was to investigate how Western focus groups and Indigenous sharing circles have been blended for the study of Indigenous children’s health. The secondary objective of this study was to propose recommendations for adapting focus groups to include elements of sharing circles. This systematic review was conducted using a systematic search of original research articles published between 2009 and 2020 that (a) focused on North American Indigenous children’s health and (b) used group-based qualitative methods including focus groups and sharing circles. Each of the articles was screened for relevance and quality. The methods sections were reviewed, subjected to qualitative content analysis, and codes were analyzed to identify common themes and synthesize results. We identified 29 articles, most of which followed a community-based participatory research approach. In these publications, most included a community advisory board, ethics approval was obtained, and in some cases, community members were included as research assistants. There was evidence that sharing circles and focus group methods had been blended in the recent Indigenous children’s health literature. This was particularly apparent in the authors’ approaches to recruitment, location, facilitation techniques, question format and reimbursement. Several groups have published results that describe approaches that successfully incorporated aspects of Indigenous sharing circles into Western focus groups, thus establishing a research method that is culturally safe and appropriate for the study of Indigenous children’s health.

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The Benefit of Focusing on Air Pollution Instead of Climate Change: How Discussing Power Plant Emissions in the Context of Air Pollution, Rather than Climate Change, Influences Perceived Benefits, Costs, and Political Action for Policies to Limit Emissions

Science Communication ◽

10.1177/1075547020980443 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 107554702098044

Author(s):

P. Sol Hart ◽

Lauren Feldman

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Air Pollution ◽

Power Plant ◽

Environmental Impacts ◽

Political Ideology ◽

Political Action ◽

Perceived Benefits ◽

Power Plant Emissions ◽

Plant Emissions ◽

Benefits And Costs

This experiment examines how framing power plant emissions in terms of air pollution or climate change, and in terms of health or environmental impacts, influences perceived benefits and costs of policies to reduce emissions and intentions to take political action that supports such policies. A moderated-mediation model reveals that focusing on air pollution, instead of climate change, has a positive significant indirect influence on intended political action through the serial mediators of perceived benefits and costs. Political ideology moderates the association between perceived benefits and political action. No framing effects are observed in the comparison between health and environmental impacts.

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95/02068 Recent advances in sampling and analysis of coal-fired power plant emissions for air toxic compounds

Fuel and Energy Abstracts ◽

10.1016/0140-6701(95)93733-1 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 36 (2) ◽

pp. 140

Keyword(s):

Power Plant ◽

Toxic Compounds ◽

Power Plant Emissions ◽

Recent Advances ◽

Plant Emissions

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Effectiveness of pretend medical play in improving children’s health outcomes and well-being: a systematic review

BMJ Open ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2020-041506 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. e041506

Author(s):

Aneesa Abdul Rashid ◽

Ai Theng Cheong ◽

Ranita Hisham ◽

Nurainul Hana Shamsuddin ◽

Dalila Roslan

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Health Outcomes ◽

Healthcare Setting ◽

Well Being ◽

Role Playing ◽

Children's Health ◽

Children’S Health ◽

Positive Outcomes ◽

Case Control Studies ◽

Anxiety Levels

BackgroundThe healthcare setting is stressful for many people, especially children. Efforts are needed to mitigate children’s healthcare-related anxiety. Medical play using the Teddy Bear Hospital (TBH) concept can expose children to healthcare settings and help them develop positive experiences in these settings. In this role-playing game, children bring their soft toys and act as parents to the ‘sick’ teddies in a pretend hospital or clinic play setting. The objective of this systematic review is to evaluate the effectiveness of the TBH in improving children’s health outcomes and well-being.MethodsWe searched the reference lists of included studies from four electronic databases (PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus and Google Scholar) from inception until November 2020. We included pre-post, quasiexperimental and case–control studies, as well as randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that discussed medical play using the TBH concept as an intervention. Studies that involved sick patients and used interventions unlike the TBH were excluded. We assessed the quality of the included studies using the Cochrane Collaboration’s ‘Risk of bias’ tool.ResultsTen studies were included in this systematic review. Five specifically investigated the TBH method, while the others involved the same concept of medical play. Only three studies were RCTs. All of the studies report more than one outcome—mostly positive outcomes. Two report lower anxiety levels after intervention. Two found better healthcare knowledge, with one reporting increased feelings of happiness regarding visiting a doctor. Two studies found no change in anxiety or feelings, while another two found increased levels of fear and lowered mood after the medical play (which involved real medical equipment).ConclusionsThe practice of TBH has mostly positive outcomes, with lower anxiety levels and improved healthcare knowledge. Its effectiveness should be verified in future studies using a more robust methodology.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42019106355.

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