Role of impairment in the experience of environmental problems: An ecological momentary assessment of the environmental problems people encounter in their daily lives

Despite enormous interest in the social model of disability, there is little research on the dynamics of impairment and the environment.  We recruited a population based sample of 123 people aged 18-65 who self-identified as someone with an impairment using the six disability screener questions from the American Community Survey. These individuals responded to an Ecological Momentary Assessment programmed on a smartphone that queried their activities, pain levels and environmental conditions six times a day for 14 days.  Environmental conditions queried included allergens, air quality, climate, crowds, darkness, lights, noise, people’s attitudes, room temperature, traffic, transportation and other.  Comparisons across impairment type using the Mann-Whitney statistic indicated very few significant differences by impairment type with the exception of memory difficulties.  People with memory difficulties reported problematic environmental conditions during 48.3% of their measurement periods compared with 21.9% of people with other impairments.  People with “walking” difficulties were similar across all environmental features to other impairment groups; however people who reported difficulties doing errands and those who used mobility equipment reported significantly more access problems than others.  Lastly, people above the median in average pain across all time periods reported significantly more problems with access, allergens, lights, noise and room temperature than people below the median.  Results are discussed with respect to the ACS screener questions, the potential effect of memory problems on adaptation to the environment and the role of pain in disability across impairment type.