Urban Water Consumption Patterns in an Adult Population in Wuxi, China: A Regression Tree Analysis

Understanding water intake variation is crucial for assessing human exposure to water pollutants. The correlation between water intake and demographic factors warrants further exploration. A cross-sectional study was conducted to estimate urban water consumption and its associated factors among adults in Wuxi, China, in 2015. The water consumption information was obtained by a 24-h self-report diary over seven consecutive days. A classification and regression tree (CART) analysis was applied to detect how water consumption varied with the demographic variables. Finally, a total of 1188 adults (18-87 years old) were included. The results demonstrated that the median water consumption of the adults was 1525 mL/day in summer and 1217 mL/day in winter. The results of the CART analysis demonstrated that body mass index (BMI) and age were the leading factors that were associated with water consumption in summer and winter, respectively. The water consumption threshold of BMI for men differed from women (23 kg/m² vs. 18 kg/m²) in summer, and the threshold of age for men was also different from women (43 years vs. 21 years) in winter. In conclusion, the findings are useful for accurately assessing human exposure to water pollutants and identifying the high-risk subgroups.