Table 8. The association of individuals’ mental well-being with each of NO2, SO2, PM10, and PM2.5 air pollutants linked at the local authority level in separate models (N = 349,748 surveys from 60,146 individuals).
| Mental well-being (GHQ0-36a ≥ 12) | Mental well-being (GHQ0-12b ≥ 2) | Mental well-being (GHQ0-12b ≥ 4) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Model 1 | Model 2 | Model 1 | Model 2 | Model 1 | Model 2 | |
| OR [95%CI] | OR [95%CI] | OR [95%CI] | OR [95%CI] | OR [95%CI] | OR [95%CI] | |
| Overall pollution effect | ||||||
| NO2 (μg/m3) | 1.11 [1.07, 1.15]** | 1.10 [1.07, 1.14]** | 1.16 [1.12, 1.20]** | 1.13 [1.09, 1.16]** | 1.13 [1.08, 1.17]** | 1.10 [1.06, 1.14]** |
| SO2 (μg/m3) | 1.51 [1.27, 1.80]** | 1.44 [1.22, 1.71]** | 1.42 [1.20, 1.68]** | 1.34 [1.14, 1.58]** | 1.36 [1.12, 1.65]** | 1.27 [1.05, 1.53]** |
| PM10 (μg/m3) | 1.13 [1.04, 1.23]** | 1.17 [1.09, 1.26]** | 1.22 [1.13, 1.32]** | 1.21 [1.13, 1.30]** | 1.15 [1.06, 1.26]** | 1.17 [1.08, 1.26]** |
| PM2.5 (μg/m3) | 1.21 [1.08, 1.35]** | 1.27 [1.15, 1.41]** | 1.36 [1.23, 1.51]** | 1.35 [1.23, 1.49]** | 1.25 [1.12, 1.41]** | 1.28 [1.15, 1.43]** |
| Between pollution effect | ||||||
| NO2 (μg/m3) | 1.09 [1.04, 1.13]** | 1.09 [1.05, 1.13]** | 1.14 [1.10, 1.19]** | 1.11 [1.07, 1.15]** | 1.11 [1.07, 1.16]** | 1.09 [1.05, 1.13]** |
| SO2 (μg/m3) | 3.72 [2.53, 5.46]** | 2.62 [1.87, 3.67]** | 3.03 [2.08, 4.41]** | 2.11 [1.50, 2.96]** | 3.58 [2.40, 5.35]** | 2.39 [1.67, 3.43]** |
| PM10 (μg/m3) | 1.09 [0.99, 1.20] | 1.16 [1.06, 1.26]** | 1.23 [1.12, 1.34]** | 1.22 [1.13, 1.33]** | 1.13 [1.03, 1.24]* | 1.16 [1.06, 1.26]** |
| PM2.5 (μg/m3) | 1.16 [1.02, 1.33]* | 1.26 [1.12, 1.42]** | 1.39 [1.23, 1.58]** | 1.38 [1.24, 1.54]** | 1.23 [1.07, 1.41]** | 1.27 [1.13, 1.44]** |
| Within pollution effect | ||||||
| NO2 (μg/m3) | 1.07 [0.94, 1.22] | 1.06 [0.93, 1.21] | 1.14 [1.00, 1.30] | 1.12 [0.99, 1.28] | 1.08 [0.93, 1.26] | 1.07 [0.92, 1.25] |
| SO2 (μg/m3) | 1.08 [0.82, 1.44] | 1.01 [0.77, 1.35] | 1.13 [0.85, 1.49] | 1.08 [0.81, 1.43] | 0.95 [0.69, 1.32] | 0.90 [0.65, 1.25] |
| PM10 (μg/m3) | 1.11 [0.91, 1.35] | 1.09 [0.89, 1.32] | 1.05 [0.86, 1.28] | 1.02 [0.84, 1.24] | 1.22 [0.97, 1.54] | 1.19 [0.94, 1.49] |
| PM2.5 (μg/m3) | 1.09 [0.86, 1.39] | 1.06 [0.83, 1.34] | 1.09 [0.86, 1.39] | 1.04 [0.82, 1.32] | 1.17 [0.88, 1.55] | 1.12 [0.85, 1.49] |
**P-value <0.01
*P-value<0.05
ORs and 95%CIs are expressed in terms of 10 μg/m3 increase in the air pollutants.
GHQ0-36a: GHQ scale composed of 12 questions, each scored using a Likert format: 0-1-2-3 and summed up by adding all the items generating a scale ranging from 0 to 36; the 0–36 scale is dichotomised using a cut-off score of 12 based on relevant literature into good mental well-being (score<12) and poor mental well-being (score ≥ 12)
GHQ0-12b: GHQ scale composed of 12 questions, each scored using a simple binary format: 0-0-1-1 and summed up by adding all the items generating a scale ranging from 0 to 12; the 0–12 scale is dichotomised using two cut-off scores of 2 and 4 based on relevant literature into good mental well-being (score<2 or score<4) and poor mental well-being (score ≥ 2 or score ≥ 4)
Model 1 is adjusted for age, gender and year dummies (2009–2019); Model 2 is adjusted for age, gender, ethnicity, country of birth, marital status, education, occupation, perceived financial situation, smoking status and year dummies (2009–2019).