Multiple environmental exposures along daily mobility paths and depressive symptoms: a smartphone-based tracking study

Abstract

Few studies go beyond the residential environment in assessments of the environment-mental health association, despite multiple environments being encountered in daily life. This study investigated 1) the associations between multiple environmental exposures and depressive symptoms, both in the residential environment and along the daily mobility path, 2) examined differences in the strength of associations between residential- and mobility-based models, and 3) explored sex as a moderator.Depressive symptoms of 393 randomly sampled adults aged 18-65 were assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). Respondents were tracked via global positioning systems- (GPS) enabled smartphones for up to 7 days. Exposure to green space (normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI)), blue space, noise (Lden) and air pollution (particulate matter (PM2.5)) within 50m and 100m of each residential address and GPS point was computed. Multiple linear regression analyses were conducted separately for the residential- and mobility-based exposures. Wald tests were used to assess if the coefficients differed across models. Interaction terms were entered in fully adjusted models to determine if associations varied by sex.A significant negative relationship between green space and depressive symptoms was found in the fully adjusted residential- and mobility-based models using the 50m buffer. No significant differences were observed in coefficients across models. None of the interaction terms were significant.Our results suggest that exposure to green space in the immediate environment, both at home and along the daily mobility path, is associated with a reduction in depressive symptoms. Further research is required to establish the utility of dynamic approaches to exposure assessment in studies on the environment and mental health.

Association of indoor noise level with depression in hotel workers: A multicenter study from 111 China's cities

“…The effect of noise on depression was mostly based on the effect of outdoor noise on health, however, the effect of indoor noise on depression remained controversial 64 . A similar study found no significant association between noise and depressive symptoms 65 . In this study, the association between hotel indoor noise and depression in the general population was statistically significant.…”

Air pollution and mental health: associations, mechanisms and methods

“…More widely available high-resolution satellite-based estimates of air pollutant exposure, or individual-level assessments of exposure utilizing global positioning system data [113 ▪ ] along with the development of new wearable measurement technologies [114,115], could lead to less exposure misclassifica-tion. Presently almost all studies estimate exposure based on disclosed residential address, without factoring in time spent elsewhere, and individual-level protective or exacerbating factors including air filtration devices or mask-wearing are included as mediators in few studies [33 ▪ ].…”

Advances in portable sensing for urban environments: Understanding cities from a mobility perspective

“…Another aspect of the uncertain geographic context problem arises from the reliance on sparse stationary monitoring stations to infer individual exposure to environmental factors such as air quality, noise, and ambient air temperature that people experience in their daily lives (Kwan, 2013;Ma et al, 2020). This approach ignores the high spatial and temporal variability of environmental factors and the variations in exposure levels as people move around in their daily lives and are exposed to different environmental contexts (Roberts & Helbich, 2021).…”

“…Most studies that utilize this data collection paradigm are focused on presenting a proof of concept or discussing methodological issues, and they tend to rely on limited samples. Prominent research fields that have already started to utilize this approach more substantially in an urban context include environmental health and health geography research in which the level of individual exposure to physical and social environmental factors and their impact on people's physical and mental health and wellbeing is measured at high resolutions (Kou et al, 2020;Kwan et al, 2019;Roberts & Helbich, 2021;Zhang, Zhou, et al, 2020); urban and transportation management and planning (Long & Reuschke, 2021;and Millar et al, 2021 in this special issue); and health monitoring including measuring mobility, physical activity, and physiological status (Li et al, 2017). The study of urban subjective experiences and emotions using portable sensors is another field that has emerged in recent years (Birenboim, 2018;Osborne & Jones, 2017;Shoval, Schvimer, & Tamir, 2018).…”