Work

Associations of unconventional natural gas development with depression symptoms and disordered sleep in Pennsylvania

Year: 2018

Type: article

Abstract: Environmental and community factors may influence the development or course of depression and sleep problems. We evaluated the association of unconventional natural gas development (UNGD) with depression symptoms and disordered sleep diagnoses using the Patient Health Questionnaire-8 and electronic health record data among Geisinger adult primary care patients in Pennsylvania. Participants received a retrospective metric for UNGD at their residence (very low, low, medium, and high) that incorporated dates and durations of well development, distance from patient homes to wells, and well characteristics. Analyses included 4,762 participants with no (62%), mild (23%), moderate (10%), and moderately severe or severe (5%) depression symptoms in 2014-2015 and 3,868 disordered sleep diagnoses between 2009-2015. We observed associations between living closer to more and bigger wells and depression symptoms, but not disordered sleep diagnoses in models weighted to account for sampling design and participation. High UNGD (vs. very low) was associated with depression symptoms in an adjusted negative binomial model (exponentiated coefficient = 1.18, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.04-1.34). High and low UNGD (vs. very low) were associated with depression symptoms (vs. none) in an adjusted multinomial logistic model. Our findings suggest that UNGD may be associated with adverse mental health in Pennsylvania.

Source: Scientific Reports

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-29747-2

Authors: Joan A. Casey, Holly C. Wilcox, Annemarie G. Hirsch, Jonathan Pollak, Brian S. Schwartz

Institutions: University of California, Berkeley, Johns Hopkins University, Geisinger Health System, Johns Hopkins Medicine

Language: English

Topic: Air Quality and Health Impacts

Subfield: Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,690