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.
Recommended Citation
Paige, Matthew K., "Validation Of The Workplace Air Risk Perception Survey" (2023). Public Health Theses. 2319.
https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/ysphtdl/2319
Comments
This is an Open Access Thesis.