Understanding an environmental health risk: Investigating asthma risk perception in Ontario youth sport

Abstract

The environment, broadly defined, plays a significant role in shaping human health. Understanding how environmental health risks are perceived by different people, in different places, and at different times is critical to their management. Using a place-based conceptual framework, this research investigates asthma risk perception determinants and outcomes amongst organized team sport stakeholders in Ontario. Two online surveys (coaches, n = 94; parents of athletes diagnosed with allergic disease, n = 90) were conducted. Binary regression was used to investigate determinants of risk perception. Asthma ranked seventh of 17 health hazards by coaches (23% ranked as high) and parents (34%), and determinants of risk included trigger knowledge, risk exposure, propensity for risk, indicators of trust, and socioeconomic variables (e.g., gender). As policy-makers look to manage health risks in sport, considering the risk profiles of different stakeholders (e.g., coaches, parents of vulnerable athletes), as well as the characteristics of the places in which risk is experienced, is critical to improving environment and health management in organized youth team sports.