Interregional Differentiation of Environmental Conditions in the Constituent Entities of the Russian Federation: A Composite Assessment for Public Health Monitoring

Introduction: Environmental conditions are an important component in shaping public health; however, their interregional heterogeneity and combination with other determinants require targeted assessment.

Objective: To assess territorial inequality in environmental conditions in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation based on a composite index and to determine the possibilities of using it for primary comparative zoning of territories by the degree of environmental disadvantage.

Materials and Methods: A retrospective comparative panel study was conducted using data from 85 constituent entities of the Russian Federation for 2019–2024. We analyzed 510 spatio-temporal observations. The composite index of environmental conditions included three comparable quantitative indicators: access of the population to high-quality drinking water from centralized water supply systems, assessment of environmental quality and climate conditions. The indicators were normalized on a single scale from 0 to 100 points. Subsequently, the condition index and the intensity of adverse conditions were calculated, and spatial and profile diagnostics were carried out, along with the typology of territories based on the combined intensity of adverse conditions across six determinants of public health.

Results: The average index of environmental conditions was 91.60 points, and the average intensity of environmental disadvantage was 8.40 points. The structural weight of the intensity of the latter reached 8.05 %, and the weight of informativeness was 17.22 %. The indicator of the population’s access to quality drinking water accounted for the largest calculated share of the sum of the average intensities of the three components’ problems; its internal structure was72.02 %. The spatial and profile interplay of environmental disadvantage was low, which indicates that it is predominantly of a local nature. An environmentally and behaviorally defined type of territory has been identified, encompassing six entities and characterized by a combination of above-average levels of both environmental and behavioral distress.

Conclusion: The composite index of environmental conditions helps differentiate territories by the degree of environmental degradation and to use the regional level as a stage of initial comparative screening. The possibility of further refining the assessment at the municipal and urban levels requires a special verification based on local monitoring data.

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