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Study of Environmental Health Problems in Korea Using Integrated Environmental Health Indicators

We have investigated the usefulness of environmental health indicators for the evaluation of environmental health in Korea. We also assessed the association between environmental contamination and health outcomes by integrating indicators into a composite measure. We selected health-related environm...

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Autores principales: Heo, Seulkee, Lee, Jong-Tae
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2013
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3774429/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23892549
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph10083140
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author Heo, Seulkee
Lee, Jong-Tae
author_facet Heo, Seulkee
Lee, Jong-Tae
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collection PubMed
description We have investigated the usefulness of environmental health indicators for the evaluation of environmental health in Korea. We also assessed the association between environmental contamination and health outcomes by integrating indicators into a composite measure. We selected health-related environmental indicators and environment-related health status indicators. The data were obtained from published statistical data from the period 2008–2009. Both synthesized measures of environmental indicators and health status indicators were calculated using Strahll’s taxonometric methods. The range of values determined by this method is 0–1, with higher values representing a better situation in the given area. The study area consisted of 16 large administrative areas within Korea. The arithmetic mean of the synthesized measure of environmental indicators was 0.348 (SD = 0.151), and that of the synthesized measure of health status indicators was 0.708 (SD = 0.107). The correlation coefficient between the synthesized measures of environmental indicators and health status indicators was 0.69 (95% CI: 0.28–0.88). Comparisons between local communities based on integrated indicators may provide useful information for decision-makers, allowing them to identify priorities in pollutant mitigation policies or in improvement actions for public health. Integrated indicators are also useful to describe the relationships between environmental contamination and health effects.
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spelling pubmed-37744292013-09-17 Study of Environmental Health Problems in Korea Using Integrated Environmental Health Indicators Heo, Seulkee Lee, Jong-Tae Int J Environ Res Public Health Article We have investigated the usefulness of environmental health indicators for the evaluation of environmental health in Korea. We also assessed the association between environmental contamination and health outcomes by integrating indicators into a composite measure. We selected health-related environmental indicators and environment-related health status indicators. The data were obtained from published statistical data from the period 2008–2009. Both synthesized measures of environmental indicators and health status indicators were calculated using Strahll’s taxonometric methods. The range of values determined by this method is 0–1, with higher values representing a better situation in the given area. The study area consisted of 16 large administrative areas within Korea. The arithmetic mean of the synthesized measure of environmental indicators was 0.348 (SD = 0.151), and that of the synthesized measure of health status indicators was 0.708 (SD = 0.107). The correlation coefficient between the synthesized measures of environmental indicators and health status indicators was 0.69 (95% CI: 0.28–0.88). Comparisons between local communities based on integrated indicators may provide useful information for decision-makers, allowing them to identify priorities in pollutant mitigation policies or in improvement actions for public health. Integrated indicators are also useful to describe the relationships between environmental contamination and health effects. MDPI 2013-07-25 2013-08 /pmc/articles/PMC3774429/ /pubmed/23892549 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph10083140 Text en © 2013 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Heo, Seulkee
Lee, Jong-Tae
Study of Environmental Health Problems in Korea Using Integrated Environmental Health Indicators
title Study of Environmental Health Problems in Korea Using Integrated Environmental Health Indicators
title_full Study of Environmental Health Problems in Korea Using Integrated Environmental Health Indicators
title_fullStr Study of Environmental Health Problems in Korea Using Integrated Environmental Health Indicators
title_full_unstemmed Study of Environmental Health Problems in Korea Using Integrated Environmental Health Indicators
title_short Study of Environmental Health Problems in Korea Using Integrated Environmental Health Indicators
title_sort study of environmental health problems in korea using integrated environmental health indicators
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3774429/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23892549
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph10083140
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