Perception of health risks due to air pollution among adolescents in Mexico City

• Published in: Salud pública de México 2009-03, Vol.51 (2), p.148
• Main Authors: Catalán-Vázquez, Minerva, Riojas-Rodríguez, Horacio, Jarillo-Soto, Edgar C, Delgadillo-Gutiérrez, Héctor Javier
• Format: Article
• Language: Spanish
• Subjects: Adolescent; Air Pollutants - adverse effects; Air Pollution - adverse effects; Attitude; Community Participation; Conjunctivitis - etiology; Conjunctivitis - psychology; Culture; Data Collection; Female; Headache - etiology; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Humans; Male; Mexico; Particulate Matter - adverse effects; Psychology, Adolescent; Respiration Disorders - etiology; Respiration Disorders - psychology; Risk; Socioeconomic Factors; Students - psychology; Urban Population
• ISSN: 1606-7916

Analyze the relations established between air pollution and health-disease-death in a sample of students in Mexico City. Survey of 1274 students from 14 secondary schools in five areas in Mexico City was conducted between March and April of 2003. We used a multi-stage sampling, based in a basic geostatistical areas (AGEB). A total of 84.4% believed that Mexico City has a high, or very high air pollution; that valuation decreases as it approaches the most immediate place in which the students live. The health risks range from effects on respiratory health, 66.9%, to other effects on daily life, 2.2%. The predictors that air pollution is perceived as serious/very serious are: 1) that they associate it with the possibility of causing death (OR= 1.35, 95% CI=1.02-1.77), and 2) that they attend schools located in the La Merced zone, (OR= 2.23, 95% CI= 1.56-3.21). Determinants of perception, such as gender, zone where the school is located and the differences in air quality perceived in the city/area/schools, suggest that focalizing components must be involved in environmental policies, in order to make environmental programs more effective at the local level.