Urban Air Pollution and Mental Stress: A Nationwide Study of University Students in China

Frontiers in Public Health

卷:9

Ke Xu¹  Randall R. Cottrell²  Sihui Peng³  Jialu Fu⁴  Huihui Wang⁴  Weifang Zhang⁴  Tingzhong Yang⁵  Yu Jin⁶ 

[1] Epidemiology Department, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States;

[2] Public Health Program, School of Health and Applied Human Sciences, University of North Carolina, Wilmington, NC, United States;

[3] School of Medicine, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China;

[4] The Affiliated Hospital of Stomatology, School of Stomatology, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Key Laboratory of Oral Biomedical Research of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, China;

[5] Women' s Hospital/Center for Tobacco Control Research, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China;

[6] Zhejiang University Educational Foundation, Hangzhou, China;

关键词: air pollution;    mental stress;    public health;    environmental policy;    university students;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpubh.2021.685431

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Background: Studies exploring the relationship between air pollution levels and mental stress have rarely been done, and no studies have been done comparing university student mental stress levels based on regional air pollution levels.Objectives: The objective of this study was to evaluate the association between air pollution and mental stress among university students.Methods: Participants were 11,942 students, who were identified through a multistage survey sampling process conducted in 50 universities. Regional air pollution levels were retrieved from a national database, and mental stress was measured using a perceived stress scale. Both unadjusted and adjusted methods were utilized in the data analyses.Results: Mental stress prevalence was 36.9% (95% Confidence Interval: 24.4–49.5%). The final model indicated that regional air pollution levels were positively associated with students' mental stress.Conclusions: This study provided new and direct evidence of the health hazards of air pollution. The findings underscore the need to develop and implement stringent environmental protection policies, while simultaneously raising public awareness of environmental protection.

【 授权许可】

Unknown