Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38342203›Full record

ArticleEnvironmental research2024

Clustering by chemicals: A novel examination of chemical pollutants and social vulnerability in children and adolescents.

Carin Molchan, Wenhui Zhang, Anne Fitzpatrick, Abby Mutic

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Environmental research, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
1.9field-weighted citation impact, top 17% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 6 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Carin MolchanNell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Wenhui ZhangNell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Anne FitzpatrickNell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA; Department of Pediatrics, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Abby MuticNell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA. Electronic address: abby.mutic@emory.edu.
Emory University · US

Funding

Symptom clusters in children with exacerbation-prone asthmaR01NR018666 · NINR · EMORY UNIVERSITY · PI FITZPATRICK, ANNE MENTRO · 2019 to 2023
$3.1M
Mentored patient-oriented research in preschool wheezing disordersK24NR018866 · NINR · EMORY UNIVERSITY · PI FITZPATRICK, ANNE MENTRO · 2020 to 2024
$625k
NHLBI NIH HHS L40 HL159855NINR NIH HHS K24 NR018866NINR NIH HHS R01 NR018666
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundInhaled air pollutants are environmental determinants of health with negative impacts on human health. Air pollution has been linked to the incidence and progression of disease, with its effects unequally distributed across the population. Children compared to adults are a highly vulnerable group and suffer disproportionately from systemic environmental inequities exacerbated by social determinants.

objectiveTo explore air pollution cluster patterns among 6- to 19-year-olds from the 2015-2016 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and examine chemical cluster associations with social vulnerability.

methodsNHANES data was extracted for 697 children and adolescents. Social vulnerability characteristics from questionnaires were assembled to construct a modified social vulnerability index (SVI). Thirty-four air pollutant exposure chemicals were measured in urine and available from the laboratory sub-sample A data. K-means clustering classified the sample into three groups: low, medium, and high chemical exposure groups. Logistic regression was used to examine associations between high chemical group membership and SVI after adjusting for age, biological sex, and BMI. Complex survey analysis was conducted using SAS v9.4 to reflect population effects.

resultsAir pollution clusters revealed significant differences in mean concentrations between groups for 31 analytes with minimal distinction in mixture profiles. SVI scores differed significantly between the three groups (P = .002), and with each point increase in their SVI, the odds of a child being assigned to the highest-chemical exposure group increased by 11.55% (95% CI: 1.02-1.31), after adjustment.

conclusionUnsupervised clustering of environmental sub-sample specimens from NHANES provides an innovative, multi-pollutant model that can be used to explore exposure patterns in this population. Utilizing the modified SVI allows for the identification of children that may be highly susceptible to air pollution. It is imperative to interpret the research findings in light of historical structural and discriminatory inequalities to develop beneficial and sustainable solutions.

Indexed as

Air PollutantsEnvironmental ExposureNutrition SurveysAdolescentAir PollutionChildCluster AnalysisFemaleHumansMaleSocial VulnerabilityYoung AdultAir Pollutants

Identifiers

PMID38342203
PMCPMC11786812
OpenAlexW4391685752

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.