Abstract
Objectives
After inadequate official response to community concerns over water quality following
changes in Flint's municipal water supply, this study sought evidence for a relationship
between water quality and community mental health.
Design
The Speak to Your Health Community Survey is a community-based participatory component
of the health surveillance system in Genesee County, Michigan. This cross-sectional
survey recruits participants from every residential Census Tract of the county and
strives for demographic representativeness.
Results
Respondents (n = 834) rated their tap water quality (taste, smell, appearance) as poor (36%), fair
(18%), good (20%), very good (17%), and excellent (10%). They rated their sleep quality
as poor (12%), fair (28%), good (39%), very good (18%), and excellent (4%), and had
an average (SD) sleep length of 408 (90) minutes. Controlling for age, sex, years of education, and whether respondents
were African American and Hispanic/Latino/a, lower perceived tap water quality was
associated with lower sleep quality and shorter sleep length.
Conclusion
Results indicate that adverse health conditions related to the water crisis extend
beyond lead poisoning in children and include deterioration of sleep conditions among
adult residents.
Keywords
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References
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: June 26, 2017
Accepted:
May 17,
2017
Received in revised form:
May 13,
2017
Received:
April 14,
2017
Footnotes
☆Author contributorship: DJK, SC, and GK designed the research; DJK and SC performed the study; DJK analyzed the data; GK and DJK drafted the initial manuscript; DJK, GK, and SC reviewed and revised the manuscript drafts and approved the final manuscript.
Identification
Copyright
© 2017 National Sleep Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
