Effect of Air Pollution on the Cognitive Function of Adolescents

Summary

Previous observational studies have reported an association between higher air pollution exposure and lower attention in children. With this project, the investigators aim to confirm this association in adolescents using an experimental design. In addition, the study will assess the relationship between air pollution exposure and individual preferences with respect to risk, time and social considerations. High school students in 3rd grade (ESO, 14-15 years of age) in different high schools in the Barcelona province (Spain) will be invited to participate. For each class in each high school, participating students will be randomly split into two equal-sized groups. Each group will be assigned to a different classroom where they will complete several activities during two hours, including an attention test (Flanker task) and a reduced version of the Global Preferences Survey. One of the classrooms will have an air purifier that will clean the air. The other classroom will have the same device but without the filters, so it will only re-circulate the air without cleaning it. Students will be masked to intervention allocation. The investigators hypothesize that students assigned to the clean air classroom will have better scores in the attention test, and that decision-making will also present differences in the two classrooms.

Conditions

• Attention Impaired
• Risk-Taking
• Risk Behavior
• Social Preferences
• Decision Making
• Attention

Interventions

OTHER

Purifying the air with a Pure Airbox device (Zonair 3D)

Purifying the air of the classroom where the experiment is conducted using a Pure Airbox device (Zonair 3D)

OTHER

Using a sham air purifier (same device without filters)

Use the air purifier (Pure Airbox, Zonair 3D) without filters in the classroom where the experiment is conducted

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Recercaixa

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Centre de Recerca per a l'Educació Científica i Matemàtica (CRECIM)

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA-CSIC)

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Economics and Bussiness Department, Universtitat Pompeu Fabra

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Barcelona Institute for Global Health

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Xavier Basagaña, PhD · Barcelona Institute for Global Health

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

13 Years

Max Age

16 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2018-11-23

Primary Completion

2019-06-11

Completion

2019-06-11

Countries

• Spain

Study Locations