Respiratory health status of children from two different air pollution exposure settings of Sri Lanka: a cross-sectional study.
BACKGROUND
Health effects due to air pollution is becoming a major public health problem with growing traffic congestion and establishment of small- to medium-scale industries with poor emission controls in urban cities of Sri Lanka.


METHODS
Respiratory health status of 7- to 10-year-old children in two settings (urban and semi-urban) was assessed using standard questionnaires. Information on socio-demographic characteristics and potential determinants of both outdoor and indoor air pollutants exposure levels were also obtained. The respiratory health status of children in the two settings was compared.


RESULTS
We found that children from the urban setting had a significantly higher prevalence of wheezing within the last 12 months as compared to children from the semi-urban setting (adjusted OR = 2.02; 95% CI = 1.13-3.59). Indoor cooking with unclean fuels was a risk factor for wheezing independent of the area of residence (adjusted OR = 1.57; 95% CI = 1.01-2.46).


CONCLUSIONS
Poor indoor air quality was a major determinant of wheezing for the overall study group. Children from urban areas of Sri Lanka have poorer respiratory health status as compared to children from semi-urban areas. Besides poor outdoor air quality, this difference may also be due to other unexplored factors which may differ between urban and semi-urban areas in Sri Lanka.
Evaluation and Research Unit, National Institute of Health Sciences, Ministry of Health, Kalutara, Sri Lanka. sumalnandasena@gmail.com
Sumal
S
Nandasena
Ananda R
AR
Wickremasinghe
Nalini
N
Sathiakumar
D000397:Air Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002648:Child; D003296:Cooking / Q000379:methods; D003371:Cough / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000032:analysis* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006304:Health Status; D006798:Housing / Q000145:classification; D006801:Humans; D011159:Population Surveillance; D015995:Prevalence; D012135:Respiratory Sounds / Q000209:etiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D013188:Sri Lanka / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014504:Urban Health