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Intra- and inter-individual variability in location data for two U.S. health-compromised elderly cohorts

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 19, pages 580–592 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

This study provides descriptive statistical data on daily time spent in three locations of exposure assessment interest for two panel studies of health-compromised elderly individuals >65-year-old having multiple days of human activity data. The panel studies include individuals living in Los Angeles (CA) and Baltimore (MD) in various housing types. Three general locations are evaluated: outdoors, in vehicles, and total indoors. Of particular interest is providing information regarding the within- and between-individual variability in the time use data for the three locations. The data are analyzed using non-parametric statistics and alternative statistical models. Within and between variability are evaluated using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs); daily “lag-one” autocorrelation coefficients are also provided for the two samples. There were significant gender differences for selected seasonal and/or day-of-the-week metrics for: (1) outdoor time in Los Angeles, but not in Baltimore, and (2) in-vehicle time in both areas. Elderly women spent more time in these locations than similarly aged men. The ICC statistic indicates that most of the variability in the time spent in the three locations is due to intraindividual variability rather than to inter-individual variability. The results indicate that US Environmental Protection Agency should consider gender, day-of-the-week, and time-of-day data in its exposure modeling of daily activities undertaken by the health-compromised elderly population.

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Abbreviations

CHAD:

Consolidated Human Activity Database

CHD:

coronary heart disease

COPD:

chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

EPA:

US Environmental Protection Agency

ICC:

intraclass correlation coefficient

KS:

Kolmogorov–Smirnov

NHAPS:

National Human Activity Pattern Survey

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by a grant to Dr. Frazier through the NAFEO (National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education) Program funded by the US. Environmental Protection Agency's Washington D.C. Office of Research and Development (ORD). Troy Rutkofske of ORD's Integrated Services Staff and Rachel Cooke of NAFEO expedited the grant, and we thank them for their assistance. We also greatly appreciate the assistance of Dr. Graham Glen and Dr. Luther Smith of Alion Scientific in Durham NC for the Baltimore data from CHAD. The research reported by Linn et al. (1999) was supported by the Electrical Power Research Institute (grant no. WO-3215). This paper has been subjected to Agency review and approved for publication. Mention of trade names, commercial products, and organizations does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use. We thank the Journal's two peer-reviewers for their thorough reading of the paper; we made many changes in the paper based on their comments and suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Science and Mathematics, Morehouse College, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

    Emma L Frazier

  2. Human Exposure and Atmospheric Sciences Division, National Exposure Research Laboratory, US Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA

    Thomas McCurdy, Ron Williams & Barbara Jane George

  3. Environmental Health Service, Rancho Los Amigos Medical Center, Downey, California, USA

    William S Linn

Authors
  1. Emma L Frazier
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  2. Thomas McCurdy
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  3. Ron Williams
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  4. William S Linn
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  5. Barbara Jane George
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Correspondence to Thomas McCurdy.

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Frazier, E., McCurdy, T., Williams, R. et al. Intra- and inter-individual variability in location data for two U.S. health-compromised elderly cohorts. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 19, 580–592 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2008.47

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