Environmental risk perception of mothers and presence of risk factors in rural and urban areas in Adana, Turkey

ABSTRACT

This cross-sectional study with an open-ended manner aimed (1) to evaluate the environmental risk perception levels of mothers having at least one child and living in Adana and (2) to determine their awareness of the risk factors in their environment. Of mothers, 30.2% did not know the concept of environmental risk factor. Most frequent perceived risks were violence (17%), air pollution (15.5%) and undefined pollution (15%). The most common mentioned problems in their environment were air pollution (9.9%), violence (7.9%) and municipal service problems (8.4%). Mothers living in the urban area reported more violence, air pollution and undefined pollution as environmental threats than those living in the countryside. The place of residence, the education level of the mother and the number of people in the house significantly were related with the risk perception. There is a need for studies in other regions to determine the environmental literacy of mothers.

KEYWORDS:

• Environment
• risk perception
• mothers

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to all volunteers for participating in this study.

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Authors’ Contributions

SSY, BGD, SAV, SY contributed to the conception or design of the work. SSY, BGD, SAV, SY contributed to the acquisition of data. SSY performed the analysis. All contributed to interpretation of data for the work. SSY, GGK prepared the manuscript. All gave final approval and agree to be accountable for all aspects of work ensuring integrity and accuracy.

Availability of data and materials

For access to the files, please send an e-mail request to [email protected].

Ethical approval

Ethics Board of Non-Interventional Clinical Research from Hacettepe University approved the protocol. All procedures in the study complied with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed Consent was obtained from the mothers included in the study.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by TUBITAK-107S407.