title: Integrated assessment of behavioral and environmental risk factors for Lyme disease infection on Block Island, Rhode Island.
abstract: Peridomestic exposure to Borrelia burgdorferi-infected Ixodes scapularis nymphs is considered the dominant means of infection with black-legged tick-borne pathogens in the eastern United States. Population level studies have detected a positive association between the density of infected nymphs and Lyme disease incidence. At a finer spatial scale within endemic communities, studies have focused on individual level risk behaviors, without accounting for differences in peridomestic nymphal density. This study simultaneously assessed the influence of peridomestic tick exposure risk and human behavior risk factors for Lyme disease infection on Block Island, Rhode Island. Tick exposure risk on Block Island properties was estimated using remotely sensed landscape metrics that strongly correlated with tick density at the individual property level. Behavioral risk factors and Lyme disease serology were assessed using a longitudinal serosurvey study. Significant factors associated with Lyme disease positive serology included one or more self-reported previous Lyme disease episodes, wearing protective clothing during outdoor activities, the average number of hours spent daily in tick habitat, the subject's age and the density of shrub edges on the subject's property. The best fit multivariate model included previous Lyme diagnoses and age. The strength of this association with previous Lyme disease suggests that the same sector of the population tends to be repeatedly infected. The second best multivariate model included a combination of environmental and behavioral factors, namely hours spent in vegetation, subject's age, shrub edge density (increase risk) and wearing protective clothing (decrease risk). Our findings highlight the importance of concurrent evaluation of both environmental and behavioral factors to design interventions to reduce the risk of tick-borne infections.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases at Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America.
authors.forename: Casey
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Finch
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases at Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America ; Department of Internal Medicine at Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America.
authors.forename: Mohammed Salim
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Al-Damluji
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases at Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America.
authors.forename: Peter J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Krause
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases at Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America.
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Niccolai
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases at Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America.
authors.forename: Tanner
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Steeves
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases at Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America ; Audubon Connecticut, Southbury, Connecticut, United States of America.
authors.forename: Corrine Folsom
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: O'Keefe
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases at Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America.
authors.forename: Maria A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Diuk-Wasser
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001519:Behavior; D025065:Borrelia burgdorferi / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology; D004777:Environment; D006801:Humans; D062312:Islands / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008193:Lyme Disease / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012237:Rhode Island / Q000453:epidemiology; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors