Abstract
Numerous studies suggest that in utero exposures to environmental contaminants are associated with fetal development, congenital anomalies, learning difficulties or other health impacts later in life. Although location and time–activity data have been used to model exposure to specific contaminants in epidemiological studies, little information is available about time–activity patterns of pregnant women. We measured changes in location-based activity patterns over the course of pregnancy (48-h periods, during two or three trimesters) using a self-reported time–activity log among a nonrandom sample of pregnant women (n=62). We assessed the influence of demographics and personal factors on changes in activity over pregnancy using mixed effects regression models. Increasing weeks of pregnancy was a significant predictor for increased time spent at home (1 h/day increase for each trimester of pregnancy), after adjusting for income (2.6 more h/day at home in lowest income group), work status (3.5 more h/day at home for nonworkers) and other children in the family (1.5 more h/day at home with other children). No other measured activities (time outdoors, time in transit modalities or time in other indoor locations) were related to weeks of pregnancy. As our results indicate that pregnant women tend to spend more time at home during the latter stages of pregnancy, future exposure and epidemiological research should consider the potential increase in home-based exposures (i.e., indoor air pollution or chemicals in the home) late in pregnancy, and increased confidence in exposure proxies based on home locations or characteristics during the same period.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 6 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $43.17 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Allgulander C., Florea I., and Huusom A.K. Prevention of relapse in generalized anxiety disorder by escitalopram treatment. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol 2006: 9: 495–505.
Devine C.M., Bove C.F., and Olson C.M. Continuity and change in women's weight orientations and lifestyle practices through pregnancy and the postpartum period: the influence of life course trajectories and transitional events. Soc Sci Med 2000: 50: 567–582.
Gardella J.R., and Hill III J.A. Environmental toxins associated with recurrent pregnancy loss. Semin Reprod Med 2000: 18: 407–424.
Gower S.K., and McColl S. Development of the PEARLS model (Particulate Exposure from Ambient to Regional Lung by Subgroup) and use of Monte Carlo simulation to predict internal exposure to PM2.5 in Toronto. Risk Anal 2005: 25: 301–315.
Jones BL A SAS procedure based on mixture models for estimating developmental trajectories. Sociol Methods Res 2001: 29: 374.
Klepeis N.E., Nelson W.C., Ott W.R., Robinson J.P., Tsang A.M., Switzer P., Behar J.V., Hern S.C., and Engelmann W.H. The National Human Activity Pattern Survey (NHAPS): a resource for assessing exposure to environmental pollutants. J Expo Anal Environ Epidemiol 2001: 11: 231–252.
Kruger J., Bowles H.R., Jones D.A., Ainsworth B.E., and Kohl III H.W. Health-related quality of life BMI and physical activity among US adults (≥18 years): National physical activity and weight loss survey, 2002. Int J Obes (Lond) 2007: 31: 321–327.
Leech J.A., Wilby K., McMullen E., and Laporte K. The Canadian Human Activity Pattern Survey: report of methods and population surveyed. Chronic Dis Can 1996: 17: 118–123.
Mottola M.F., and Campbell M.K. Activity patterns during pregnancy. Can J Appl Physiol 2003: 28: 642–653.
Nethery E., Leckie S.E., Teschke K., and Brauer M. From measures to models: an evaluation of air pollution exposure assessment for epidemiological studies of pregnant women. Occup Environ Med 2007; e-pub ahead of print 10 December 2007, doi:10.1136/oem.2007.035337.
Ning Y., Williams M.A., Dempsey J.C., Sorensen T.K., Frederick I.O., and Luthy D.A. Correlates of recreational physical activity in early pregnancy. J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med 2003: 13: 385–393.
Petersen A.M., Leet T.L., and Brownson R.C. Correlates of physical activity among pregnant women in the United States. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2005: 37: 1748–1753.
Poudevigne M.S., and O'Connor P.J. A review of physical activity patterns in pregnant women and their relationship to psychological health. Sports Med 2006: 36: 19–38.
Rauh V.A., Whyatt R.M., Garfinkel R., Andrews H., Hoepner L., Reyes A., Diaz D., Camann D., and Perera F.P. Developmental effects of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke and material hardship among inner-city children. Neurotoxicol Teratol 2004: 26: 373–385.
Ritz B., and Yu F. The effect of ambient carbon monoxide on low birth weight among children born in southern California between 1989 and 1993. Environ Health Perspect 1999: 107: 17–25.
Schmidt M.D., Pekow P., Freedson P.S., Markenson G., and Chasan-Taber L. Physical activity patterns during pregnancy in a diverse population of women. J Womens Health (Larchmt) 2006: 15: 909–918.
Silbergeld E.K., and Patrick T.E. Environmental exposures, toxicologic mechanisms, and adverse pregnancy outcomes. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2005: 192: S11–S21.
Sram R.J., Binkova B., Dejmek J., and Bobak M. Ambient air pollution and pregnancy outcomes: a review of the literature. Environ Health Perspect 2005: 113: 375–382.
Whyatt R.M., Barr D.B., Camann D.E., Kinney P.L., Barr J.R., Andrews H.F., Hoepner L.A., Garfinkel R., Hazi Y., Reyes A., Ramirez J., Cosme Y., and Perera F.P. Contemporary-use pesticides in personal air samples during pregnancy and blood samples at delivery among urban minority mothers and newborns. Environ Health Perspect 2003: 111: 749–756.
Wilbur J., Miller A.M., Montgomery A., and Chandler P. Women's physical activity patterns: nursing implications. J Obstet Gynecol Neonatal Nurs 1998: 27: 383–392.
Wilkes C.R., Mason A.D., and Hern S.C. Probability distributions for showering and bathing water-use behavior for various U.S. subpopulations. Risk Anal 2005: 25: 317–337.
Xie H., Drake R., and McHugo G. Are there distinctive trajectory groups in substance abuse remission over 10 years? An application of the group-based modeling approach. Adm Policy Ment Health 2006: 33: 423–432.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Nethery, E., Brauer, M. & Janssen, P. Time–activity patterns of pregnant women and changes during the course of pregnancy. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 19, 317–324 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2008.24
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2008.24
Keywords
This article is cited by
-
Prenatal exposure to ambient air pollution and traffic and indicators of adiposity in early childhood: the Healthy Start study
International Journal of Obesity (2022)
-
Joint effects of ethnic enclave residence and ambient volatile organic compounds exposure on risk of gestational diabetes mellitus among Asian/Pacific Islander women in the United States
Environmental Health (2021)
-
Cumulative exposure to environmental pollutants during early pregnancy and reduced fetal growth: the Project Viva cohort
Environmental Health (2018)
-
The effect of prenatal TVOC exposure on birth and infantile weight: the Mothers and Children’s Environmental Health study
Pediatric Research (2017)
-
Air pollution, neighbourhood and maternal-level factors modify the effect of smoking on birth weight: a multilevel analysis in British Columbia, Canada
BMC Public Health (2016)