Status and determinants of individual actions to reduce health impacts of air pollution in US adults

Although regulation of emissions is the primary strategy to reduce air pollution-related morbidity, individual-level interventions are also helpful in mitigating health impacts. We used data from 2007-2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to study the prevalence of individual-level action among the US adult population if informed of air pollution, and to see if this differed by demographic and health factors. Only 13.5% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 11.6-15.4%) of participants aware of air quality reported changing their individual behaviors. Males (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 0.66, 95% CI: 0.56-0.77) and those without cardiovascular disease (AOR: 0.58, 95% CI: 0.47-0.71) were least likely to take action. Results show that individual action was infrequent among the population. Health promotion of individual intervention is necessary, and this effort may need to target specific subgroups of the population. Further studies on effective individual interventions are needed.