Grantee Research Project Results

2012 Progress Report: New Methods for Analysis of Cumulative Risk in Urban Populations

EPA Grant Number: R834582
Title: New Methods for Analysis of Cumulative Risk in Urban Populations
Investigators: Scammell, Madeleine Kangsen , Ozonoff, David M.
Institution: Boston University
EPA Project Officer: Hahn, Intaek
Project Period: July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2014 (Extended to June 30, 2015)
Project Period Covered by this Report: July 1, 2011 through June 30,2012
Project Amount: $749,226
RFA: Understanding the Role of Nonchemical Stressors and Developing Analytic Methods for Cumulative Risk Assessments (2009) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Human Health

Objective:

We will attempt to use computer-assisted qualitative research methods and structural data analysis to characterize environmental burden on an individual and community level in a small but densely populated, ethnically and economically diverse city. Specific aims include:

1) Use established qualitative and quantitative research techniques to collect, code and characterize information about chemical exposures of concern, social and economic concerns, behavioral risk factors for disease, self reported health outcomes and perceptions of environment and quality of life from residents abutting an urban designated port area.

2) Use already developed research software implementing Galois lattices (also called Formal Concept Analysis) to examine the hierarchical and structural relationships of quantitative and qualitative data elements.

3) Use the lattice as a technique for cumulative risk assessment by examining the relationships revealed by computation.

4) Share results of analysis with community members and public health officials and make attempts to share the software with public health practitioners and epidemiologists to use as an additional and practical tool for data analysts.

Progress Summary:

The Boston University (BU) Medical Campus IRB approved the study in October 2011, 6 months after our protocol was submitted. This delay and personnel changes in the interim meant that only 140 interviews were conducted by December 2012 instead of the projected 500. The 140 interviews were from residents in five targeted census tracts in the City of Chelsea. Despite delays, our recruitment goal (based on population size) for one of the five census tracts has now been met and we are recruiting in the remaining four tracts.

For personal reasons, our first STAR Project Coordinator had to leave the study soon after our protocol was approved by the IRB in October 2011. A search for a replacement who was very familiar with the City of Chelsea and the Chelsea Collaborative and had all the necessary skills to run the study was fortunately successful. Rafael Medina became the STAR Project Coordinator in January 2012.

In June 2012, Drs. Ozonoff and Scammell worked with Dr. Alex Pogel (New Mexico State University) to test the lattice software with the results of 86 interviews. We selected numeric, non-text responses and identified several areas for improvements of the software.

Early explorations of the data for the purpose of testing software functionality revealed surprising patterns in questions related to types of violence and food security. Using responses to questions normally used to measure exposure to violence in the community by scoring with simple aggregation, we observed that knowledge of neighborhood gang violence is disjointed from the knowledge of robbery. Almost all individuals with experience of robbery felt they had enough food and the kinds of food they wanted but none of these had concerns about gang violence, or rape/sexual assault. In contrast, all people who reported that sexual assault or rape, and/or gang fights occurred in their neighborhood also reported not having enough food or the types of food they wanted. The most commonly reported events were robbery or mugging, and this was most often reported by people for whom food security was not a concern, nor were gang fights, rapes or sexual assaults. Thus lumping these groups together by aggregating their scores obscures an important difference.

Future Activities:

The major activity for the next funding period is to conduct as many interviews as possible through May 2013 (Specific Aim 1) and to begin data analysis. At the soon to be achieved 200 interview mark, we will begin to explore determinants of recycling behavior among residents and continue to examine patterns of violence (Specific Aims 2 and 3). We currently are drafting a manuscript for publication on cumulative impacts/burdens/risks/exposures and issues of measurement in environmental health.

Journal Articles:

No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 17 publications for this project

Supplemental Keywords:

ambient air, water, health effects, human health, sensitive populations, age, race, diet, ethnic groups, toxics, particulates, metals, solvents, public policy, observation, preferences, social science, epidemiology, mathematics, modeling, monitoring, analytical, Northeast, EPA Region 1, transportation, petroleum

Relevant Websites:

http://www.chelseastar.org Exit

Progress and Final Reports:

Original Abstract

The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.