Health, wealth, and air pollution: advancing theory and methods.

By M. O'Neill, Michael Jerrett, Ichiro Kawachi, J. Levy, A. Cohen, N. Gouveia, P. Wilkinson, T. Fletcher, L. Cifuentes, Jasmine Schwartz. Environmental Health Perspectives, 2003

764 citations recorded by the source corpus.

The effects of both ambient air pollution and socioeconomic position (SEP) on health are well documented. A limited number of recent studies suggest that SEP may itself play a role in the epidemiology of disease and death associated with exposure to air pollution. Together with evidence that poor and working-class communities are often more exposed to air pollution, these studies have stimulated discussion among scientists, policy makers, and the public about the differential distribution of the health impacts from air pollution. Science and public policy would benefit from additional research that integrates the theory and practice from both air pollution and social epidemiologies to gain a better understanding of this issue. In this article we aim to promote such research by introducing readers to methodologic and conceptual approaches in the fields of air pollution and social epidemiology; by proposing theories and hypotheses about how air pollution and socioeconomic factors may interact to influence health, drawing on studies conducted worldwide; by discussing methodologic issues in the design and analysis of studies to determine whether health effects of exposure to ambient air pollution are modified by SEP; and by proposing specific steps that will advance knowledge in this field, fill information gaps, and apply research results to improve public health in collaboration with affected communities.

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/79e29df1180338c2d1c18b1c2e5a8743e7440530

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

1. R. Kovats
2. S. Hajat
3. K. Lachowycz
4. B. Festy

Citations in the corpus

• Heat-related and cold-related deaths in England and Wales: who is at risk? (2006, background): “21 These include pre-existing medical conditions such as cardiorespiratory diseases, neurological diseases and mental illness.”