N/A
Completed N=225
Improving the Behavioural Impact of Air Quality Alerts
Pollution; Exposure · Health Behavior
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03552198 ↗
Enrolled (actual)
225
Serious AEs
—
Results posted
Oct 2021
Primary outcomePrimary: Adoption of Protective Behaviour at 4 Weeks — 3.67; 4.25; 4.29; 3.65 units on a scale 1-9 — p=.964
Summary
The evidence shows that adherence to air quality advice to adopt protective behaviours during pollution episodes is suboptimal, and that the traditional strategy of simply informing people about high pollution episodes is not effective. The aim of the present study was to investigate how to improve the behavioural impact of existing air quality alert messages through a systematic manipulation of key communication variables, including perceived susceptibility, self-efficacy, response efficacy, planning, message specificity, etc. Users of an existing air quality alert smartphone application in London, who agreed to take part in the study, were randomly allocated to a control group (i.e. receiving usual health advice associated with the official UK Air Quality Index) or an intervention group receiving health advice associated with air quality alerts in an alternative format (i.e. targeting key variables). Both intended and actual adherence behaviours were investigated. Qualitative data were also collected to understand the reasons for not adopting protective behaviours in response to receiving a real air pollution alert.
Implications of this study include the potential to increase protective behaviours in the general population during air pollution episodes through the development of more effective communication strategies provided via existent air quality alert systems.
Outcome Measures
| Outcome | Result | p-value |
|---|---|---|
| PRIMARY Adoption of Protective Behaviour at 4 Weeks |
3.67; 4.25; 4.29; 3.65 | .964 |
| SECONDARY Considered Making Permanent Changes |
10; 14; 3; 7; 23; 12 | 0.043 sig |
| SECONDARY Actual Behaviour Change in Response to a Real Air Quality Alert |
3; 2; 2; 5; 16; 23 | >0.05 |
| SECONDARY Intentions to Adhere to Health Advice Associated With a Hypothetical High Air Pollution Scenario |
6.69; 6.26; 7.58; 6.93 | >0.05 |
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria
- To be eligible to participate, participants had to be members of the general public in the adult age range (>18 years), be fluent in English, working or living in Greater London, and being new or old users of a specific air quality alert smartphone application.
Exclusion Criteria
- younger than 18 years
- not working or living in Greater London
- no longer users of the air quality alert smartphone application.
Data sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03552198). Outcome figures and adverse-event rates are extracted automatically from the registry's posted results and are provided for clinician reference, not as a substitute for the primary publication. Informational only — not medical advice.