The proposed research project is an inception cohort study of chemical incidents. The project is essentially an epidemiological study, which uses a mixture of qualitative and quantitative measures. Using a novel study design, the incident itself will be the unit of study rather than the exposed individuals. The project will be used to test the hypothesis that environmental incidents have a greater impact in affluent areas. In order to :do this a measure of 'perceived impact' of environmental incident on the exposed community will be developed and piloted, thereby allowing incidents to be designated as having either 'high' or 'low' impact. To assess the effect of the exposure of interest (socio-economic deprivation / affluence), standard socio-economic data will be obtained for the areas in which each incident occurs. There are likely to be many important effect modifiers and confounders in determining outcome after such incidents. Data will be collected on the toxicity of the chemical incident, but also on factors affecting risk perception (e.g., presence of an odour and media coverage) and other social factors. Multi level modeling will be used to assess the relative importance of these diverse factors. ? ?

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
Type
Postdoctoral Individual National Research Service Award (F32)
Project #
5F32ES013690-03X1
Application #
7530151
Study Section
Behavioral Genetics and Epidemiology Study Section (BGES)
Program Officer
Humble, Michael C
Project Start
2005-11-15
Project End
2008-11-14
Budget Start
2007-11-15
Budget End
2008-11-14
Support Year
3
Fiscal Year
2008
Total Cost
$7,000
Indirect Cost
Name
University of London Institute of Psychiatry
Department
Type
DUNS #
City
London
State
Country
United Kingdom
Zip Code
Page, Lisa A; Keshishian, Catherine; Leonardi, Giovanni et al. (2010) Frequency and predictors of mass psychogenic illness. Epidemiology 21:744-7
Morgan, Oliver W; Page, Lisa; Forrester, Sarah et al. (2008) Polonium-210 poisoning in London: hypochondriasis and public health. Prehosp Disaster Med 23:96-7
Page, Lisa; Rubin, James; Amlot, Richard et al. (2008) Are Londoners prepared for an emergency? A longitudinal study following the London bombings. Biosecur Bioterror 6:309-19
Page, Lisa A; Hajat, Shakoor; Kovats, R Sari (2007) Relationship between daily suicide counts and temperature in England and Wales. Br J Psychiatry 191:106-12