Vulnerability-Based Spatial Sampling Stratification for the National Children's Study, Worcester County, Massachusetts: Capturing Health-Relevant Environmental and Sociodemographic Variability
Vulnerability-Based Spatial Sampling Stratification for the National Children's Study, Worcester County, Massachusetts: Capturing Health-Relevant Environmental and Sociodemographic Variability
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DOI：
10.1289/ehp.0901315
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发表时间：
2010-09-01
影响因子：
10.4
通讯作者：
Felice, Marianne
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Downs, Timothy J.;Ogneva-Himmelberger, Yelena;Felice, Marianne
背景：国家儿童研究是美国有史以来最雄心勃勃的研究，旨在评估环境因素如何影响儿童健康和发展。它的目标是跟踪10万名儿童从怀孕到21岁。成功需要突破新的跨学科领域，首先要从如何在105个研究地点中选择1000名儿童作为样本开始；考虑到目标人群居住的不同环境，目前还没有标准化的方案来对其进行分层。马萨诸塞州伍斯特县和其他地方一样，根据当地条件和当地知识分层，服从概率抽样规则。目标：我们回答以下问题：我们如何根据抽样规则将伍斯特县划分为代表其健康相关环境和社会人口异质性的可行阶层？我们的方法有什么潜力为其他地点的分层提供信息？结果：我们开发了一种基于脆弱性的多变量空间抽样方法，该方法由两个描述性指数组成：危害/压力源暴露指数（包括三个代理变量）和适应能力/社会人口特征指数（五个变量）。研究开始时的多变量、与健康相关的分层可能会提高环境-儿童健康关联的检测能力。18个地层在指数中捕捉到全县范围内的异质性，并且在每个地层中具有最佳的相对均匀性。它们实现了可比的预期出生数量，并符合当地的空间概念。结论：该方法为其他站点提供了中等到高的信息潜力，但受到站点间数据可用性、地理人口统计学和技术能力差异的限制。从一开始，充满活力的社区参与就促进了地方分层的一致性，加上至关重要的研究人员与社区的信任和可持续发展的共同所有权。
BACKGROUND: The National Children's Study is the most ambitious study ever attempted in the United States to assess how environmental factors impact child health and development. It aims to follow 100,000 children from gestation until 21 years of age. Success requires breaking new inter-disciplinary ground, starting with how to select the sample of > 1,000 children in each of 105 study sites; no standardized protocol exists for stratification of the target population by factoring in the diverse environments it inhabits. Worcester County, Massachusetts, like other sites, stratifies according to local conditions and local knowledge, subject to probability sampling rules.OBJECTIVES: We answer the following questions: How do we divide Worcester County into viable strata that represent its health-relevant environmental and sociodemographic heterogeneity, subject to sampling rules? What potential does our approach have to inform stratification at other sites?RESULTS: We developed a multivariable, vulnerability-based method for spatial sampling consisting of two descriptive indices: a hazards/stressors exposure index (comprising three proxy variables), and an adaptive capacity/sociodemographic character index (five variables). Multivariable, health-relevant stratification at the start of the study may improve detection power for environment-child health associations down the line. Eighteen strata capture countywide heterogeneity in the indices and have optimal relative homogeneity within each. They achieve comparable expected birth counts and conform to local concepts of space.CONCLUSION: The approach offers moderate to high potential to inform other sites, limited by inter-site differences in data availability, geodemographics, and technical capacity. Energetic community engagement from the start promotes local stratification coherence, plus vital researcher-community trust and co-ownership for sustainability.