Environment/Climate Change
Characterizing Health-Related Quality of Life Risk Factors in the Fernald Community Cohort Sara Burcham* Sara Burcham Wei Wen Hsu Sharon Larson Susan Pinney
Background: Four self-reported Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) outcomes were analyzed from persons who lived in Fernald, Ohio surrounding the former U.S. Department of Energy uranium processing facility as part of the Fernald Community Cohort (FCC).
Methods: Participants in the FCC completed the initial examination between January 1990 and December 1995 (N=7,957). Descriptive statistics were computed to examine differences among sociodemographic factors and well-being measures among the groups categorized by residential distance in the form of mile rings (0-5 miles) from the facility borders. Adjusted logistic regression analyses were performed to evaluate the relationship between residential distance and well-being measures in the cross-sectional study design.
Results: Residents within 0-1 miles of the contamination site reported a more negative outlook (“partly” or “not” satisfied) for the variable, life satisfaction, compared to those participants residing in the 4–5-mile ring. Notably, factors such as recent misfortune, environmental hazard awareness, social ties, job satisfaction, and physical activity levels emerged as common determinants of HRQoL in the separate regression models: feelings of life satisfaction, life in control, life perspective, and overall physical health.
Conclusions: Residential distance was a significant predictor of self-reported life satisfaction in the fully adjusted model. The study findings warrant further exploration in future studies investigating the long-term health outcomes of residents near environmental contamination sites.
Keywords: HRQoL, environmental contamination, Superfund, health risk appraisal, life satisfaction
