Are Healthcare Providers Asking about Environmental Exposures? A Community-Based Mixed Methods Study
Table 1
Comparison of demographic and health perceptions of coal ash community members, by healthcare provider inquiry ().
Characteristic
Healthcare provider asked ()
Healthcare provider did not ask ()
value
Gender
0.841
Female
35 (56%)
78 (55%)
Male
27 (44%)
64 (45%)
Median age
53 (IQR = 60–47)
51.5 (IQR = 58–34)
0.461
Length of time at current home
Less than 5 years
13 (21%)
28 (20%)
0.447
5–10 years
7 (11%)
15 (11%)
11–15 years
5 (8%)
16 (11%)
16–20 years
3 (5%)
18 (13%)
More than 20 years
34 (55%)
65 (46%)
Property ownership
0.969
Rent
16 (26%)
35 (25%)
Own
46 (74%)
102 (72%)
Current smoker
0.121
Yes
16 (26%)
54 (38%)
No
44 (71%)
88 (62%)
Past smoker
0.431
Yes
37 (60%)
93 (65%)
No
24 (39%)
47 (33%)
Description of overall health
0.059
Excellent
0
2 (1%)
Very good
4 (6%)
18 (13%)
Good
20 (32%)
64 (45%)
Fair
21 (34%)
39 (27%)
Poor
16 (26%)
18 (13%)
I am as healthy as other people I know
True
15 (24%)
81 (57%)
<0.001
False
47 (76%)
56 (39%)
From the original sample (), 27 respondents answered “I don’t know” to the healthcare provider question and were removed. Fisher’s Exact Test. Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test with the normal approximation. Percents may not add to 100% due to missing responses. Significant at .
