Date of Award

January 2023

Document Type

Open Access Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Public Health (MPH)

Department

School of Public Health

First Advisor

Krystal J. Godri Pollitt

Abstract

Exposure to airborne chemicals has been demonstrated to adversely impact human health, yet little is understood about the general population’s understanding or concern for these health risks. In this pilot study, we developed a self-report instrument to quantitate workplace environmental health risk perceptions and evaluated it via a convenience sample of self-identified workers. The fifteen-item Workplace Air Risk Perception Survey (WARPS) was a reliable and valid metric of this construct. Each of four subscales identified under exploratory factor analysis also demonstrated reliable and valid psychometric properties in a corresponding subdomain: room construction, anthropogens, airflow, and strong odors. Future research with the WARPS will assess targeted workforces, such as early childcare workers burdened with increased respiratory health risks such as asthma. Unlike existing measures of environmental health risk perception from the literature, the WARPS narrowly focuses on air quality while this study establishes its psychometric rigor. Future development of instrument repositories would benefit from inclusion of surveys, like the WARPS, that bridge a gap between the generally objective hazards studied in environmental health and the important subjective elements that drive environmental health literacy and behaviors relevant to environmental wellbeing.

Comments

This is an Open Access Thesis.

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