Indoor environment and respiratory symptoms in children living in the Dutch-German borderland.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the relation between indoor environmental risk factors and respiratory symptoms in 7-8-year-old children living in the Dutch-German borderland.


METHODS
A nested case-control study was conducted among children participating in a large longitudinal study on respiratory health. Parents of all 781 children with respiratory complaints and an equal number of randomly selected controls were asked to complete a questionnaire, including questions on indoor environment.


RESULTS
The parents of 1191 children (76.2%) participated. Past exposure to environmental (OR = 2.73, 95% CI 1.14-6.67) as well as in utero exposure (OR = 2.28, 95% CI 1.15-4.53) to tobacco smoke, use of an unvented geyser for water heating (OR = 3.01, 95% CI 1.21-7.56), long-term exposure to dampness (OR = 2.98, 95% CI 1.10-8.28) or pets (OR = 2.18, 95% CI 1.39-3.42) increased the risk of asthmatic symptoms in 7-8-year-old children. A middle or low socio-economic status also increased the risk of asthmatic symptoms. An inverse association with asthmatic symptoms was seen for wall-to-wall carpeting (OR = 0.57, 95% CI 0.33-0.95) and insulation measures (OR = 0.46, 95% CI 0.25-0.83). Except for the presence of an unvented geyser, these environmental risk factors also presented a risk for coughing symptoms in children.


CONCLUSIONS
This study showed an increased risk of respiratory symptoms in children exposed to several indoor environmental risk factors.
Mommers
M
M
Institute for Hygiene and Environmental Medicine, R WTH Aachen, Germany. monique.mommers@epid.unimaas.nl
Jongmans-Liedekerken
A W
AW
Derkx
R
R
Dott
W
W
Mertens
P
P
van Schayck
C P
CP
Steup
A
A
Swaen
G M
GM
Ziemer
B
B
Weishoff-Houben
M
M
D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor; D000818:Animals; D000829:Animals, Domestic; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D003371:Cough / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005260:Female; D005658:Fungi; D005858:Germany; D006361:Heating / Q000009:adverse effects; D006798:Housing; D006801:Humans; D006813:Humidity; D008297:Male; D009426:Netherlands; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects
D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution