ArticleEnvironmental health perspectives2010
Vulnerability-based spatial sampling stratification for the National Children's Study, Worcester County, Massachusetts: capturing health-relevant environmental and sociodemographic variability.
Article in Environmental health perspectives, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed.
- Harnessing Geospatial Artificial Intelligence (GeoAI) for Environmental Epidemiology: A Narrative Review.Current environmental health reports · 2025Review
- Association between Responsible Pet Ownership and Glycemic Control in Youths with Type 1 Diabetes.PloS one · 2016Article
- Examination of spatial polygamy among young gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men in New York City: the P18 cohort study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2014Article
- The built environment and depressive symptoms among urban youth: A spatial regression study.Spatial and spatio-temporal epidemiology · 2013Article
- The National Children's Study: an opportunity for medical toxicology.Journal of medical toxicology : official journal of the American College of Medical Toxicology · 2012Review
- Racial differences in the built environment--body mass index relationship? A geospatial analysis of adolescents in urban neighborhoods.International journal of health geographics · 2012Article
- Validation of walk score for estimating neighborhood walkability: an analysis of four US metropolitan areas.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2011Article
- Vulnerability, risk perception, and health profile of marginalized people exposed to multiple built-environment stressors in Worcester, Massachusetts: a pilot project.Risk analysis : an official publication of the Society for Risk Analysis · 2011Article
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Authors and funding
12 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundThe 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 interdisciplinary 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.
objectivesWe 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?
resultsWe 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.
conclusionThe approach offers moderate to high potential to inform other sites, limited by intersite 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.
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