Assessment of health and environmental risk perception in a Tunisian population: A cross-sectional survey

We aimed to assess the perception of environmental risks and its impact on the health in a Tunisian population. A cross-sectional study was conducted between January 2023 and February 2023. A face-to-face questionnaire survey was administrated to citizens present in the Tunisian electricity and gas company in Ariana. The questionnaire consists of three parts: a register section, a case study section, and a section on the perception of environmental risk and its impact on health. The study included 905 participants with a median age of 43±13 years old [18-79]. The average number of school years was 11±4 years [0-21 years]. The study population considered terrorism to be the most important risk (70.8%), followed by marginalization (57.3%), epidemics (52.5%) and pollution (51.2%). The study population perceived its exposure to air pollution (29.9%) and water pollution (27.7%) as major. Only 4.43% cosidered the environmental situation serious and irreversible. About the likelihood of pollution-related illnesses occurring in their region, most responders were concerned about allergies (73.6%), chronic respiratory illnesses (71.8%) and cancer (51.3%). The main source of information cited were television and social media (46.3%). Environmental risks were reported in fourth place. Respondents associated pollution only with respiratory diseases.