EPA-HSE Environment Health and Well Being Annual Conference 2018

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Investigating the impact of the environment
on health using spatially-linked data
DATE
7th November 2018
VENUE
EPA-HSE Environment, Health
and Wellbeing Annual
Conference, Dublin
AUTHORS
Seraphim Dempsey
Seán Lyons
Anne Nolan

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Introduction
• Physical environment an important
component of the ‘social determinants of
health’ (WHO, 2008)
• Research linking the environment and
health has a long history (e.g., 1854
London cholera outbreak)
• But there are methodological challenges

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• Link spatially-coded individual-level
micro-data with data on environmental
exposures
• Survey micro-data from The Irish
Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA)
• Environmental exposure data on radon,
green and blue spaces, noise, etc.
Our Approach

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• Increasing urbanisation → health and
well-being effects
• Obesity a major public health concern
• Causes of obesity multi-faceted, but
increasing focus on environmental factors
• Link TILDA data with data on green space
exposure from EU Urban Atlas
Urban Green Space and Obesity

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• Nationally-representative longitudinal
survey of the over 50s
• Surveyed every 2 years since 2010
• Economic, social and health components
• Data collected from face-to-face
interviews, self-completion questionnaires
and clinical health assessments
• Approximately 8,000 observations
TILDA

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• Satellite imagery used to create highly detailed
land-use maps of urban areas within the EU
• Circular 1.6km buffer drawn around each TILDA
residence
• Greenness of locality = amount of green space
within this buffer zone as a proportion of the
total buffer zone area
• Divided into quintiles to protect anonymity
Calculating Green Space Exposure

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Illustration for Dublin

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Results

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• Further analysis of accessibility of green
space (e.g., footpaths)
• Impact of urban noise on health and
wellbeing (e.g., sleep, CVD, etc.)
• Investigate feasibility of using other
survey micro-data (e.g., Healthy Ireland)
Next Steps

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Extra Slides

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Type of Green Space