Childhood asthma and the indoor environment.
To investigate the influence of indoor air quality on respiratory health, a questionnaire-based study of 17,962 Canadian schoolchildren in kindergarten through grade 2 was carried out in 1988. The present report focuses on associations between several indoor environmental factors and childhood asthma. Increased reports of physician-diagnosed asthma were significantly associated (p less than 0.001) with exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (OR = 1.4), living in a damp home (OR = 1.5), the use of gas for cooking (OR = 2.0) and the use of a humidifier (OR = 1.7). Wheezing without a diagnosis of asthma also was associated (p less than 0.01) with environmental tobacco smoke (OR = 1.4, home dampness (OR = 1.6) and humidifier use (OR = 1.4), but not with gas cooking. Thus, several modifiable risk factors for respiratory illness may exist in Canadian homes. Further research is required to determine the nature of these cross-sectional observations.
Health Protection Branch, Health and Welfare Canada, Ottawa, Ontario.
C
C
Dekker
R
R
Dales
S
S
Bartlett
B
B
Brunekreef
H
H
Zwanenburg
D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor / Q000009:adverse effects*; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016017:Odds Ratio; D015995:Prevalence; D012135:Respiratory Sounds / Q000209:etiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects*
D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution