Residential environmental risk factors for childhood asthma prevalence in metropolitan and semirural cities in Korea.
To identify the association between residential environmental risk factors and the prevalence of childhood asthma, the authors surveyed the prevalence of asthma, the residential environmental risk factors of 1819 elementary school students, and air pollution in metropolitan (Seongbuk), and semirural (Andong) areas. Although there was no significant difference in the prevalence of self-reported asthma (SA) between the 2 geographic areas (12.8% vs 13.6%), the prevalence of physician-diagnosed asthma (PDA) in Andong (15.0%) was significantly higher than that in Seongbuk (6.8%). After adjusting for confounding factors, logistic regression suggested that there were significant differences in size of the house (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.82), medical insurance (aOR = 2.59), and number of residents in the household (aOR = 1.54) between the SA and non-SA groups. There was a significant difference in the area of residence (aOR = 2.12) between the PDA and non-PDA groups. In conclusion, residential environmental risk factors and the area of residence affect the prevalence of childhood asthma.
Korea University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Gyu-Seok
GS
Hwang
Jae-Wook
JW
Choi
Young
Y
Yoo
Ji-Tae
JT
Choung
Chung-Sik
CS
Yoon
D000293:Adolescent; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects*; D001249:Asthma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D002648:Child; D002947:Cities; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012423:Rural Health; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014504:Urban Health