title: Effects of prenatal community violence and ambient air pollution on childhood wheeze in an urban population.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Prenatal exposures to stress and physical toxins influence children's respiratory health, although few studies consider these factors together.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We sought to concurrently examine the effects of prenatal community-level psychosocial (exposure to community violence [ECV]) and physical (air pollution) stressors on repeated wheeze in 708 urban children followed to age 2 years.
  
  
  METHODS
  Multi-item ECV reported by mothers in pregnancy was summarized into a continuous score by using Rasch modeling. Prenatal black carbon exposure was estimated by using land-use regression (LUR) modeling; particulate matter with a diameter of less than 2.5 μm (PM2.5) was estimated by using LUR modeling incorporating satellite data. Mothers reported child's wheeze every 3 months. The effects of ECV and air pollutants on repeated wheeze (≥ 2 episodes) were examined by using logistic regression. Interactions between ECV and pollutants were examined.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mothers were primarily black (29%) and Hispanic (55%), with lower education (62% with ≤ 12 years); 87 (12%) children wheezed repeatedly. In models examining concurrent exposures, ECV (odds ratio [OR], 1.95; 95% CI, 1.13-3.36; highest vs lowest tertile) and black carbon (OR, 1.84; 95% CI, 1.08-3.12; median or greater vs less than median) were independently associated with wheeze adjusting for sex, birth season, maternal atopy, education, race, and cockroach antigen. Associations were similar for PM2.5 (adjusted OR, 2.02; 95% CI, 1.20-3.40). An interaction between ECV with air pollution levels was suggested.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings suggest that both prenatal community violence and air pollution can contribute to respiratory health in these urban children. Moreover, place-based psychosocial stressors might affect host resistance such that physical pollutants can have adverse effects, even at relatively lower levels.
authors.affiliation: Kravis Children's Hospital, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY; Department of Pediatrics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY.
authors.forename: Yueh-Hsiu Mathilda
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Chiu
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Mass; Department of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Mass.
authors.forename: Brent A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Coull
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Mass.
authors.forename: Michelle J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Sternthal
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Mass; Department of Geography and Environmental Development, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel.
authors.forename: Itai
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kloog
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Mass; Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Mass.
authors.forename: Joel
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schwartz
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pa.
authors.forename: Sheldon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.affiliation: Kravis Children's Hospital, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY; Department of Pediatrics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY; Mindich Child Health & Development Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY. Electronic address: rosalind.wright@mssm.edu.
authors.forename: Rosalind J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Wright
mesh_terms: D000397:Air Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018811:Maternal Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011247:Pregnancy; D012135:Respiratory Sounds / Q000209:etiology*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications; D014505:Urban Population; D014754:Violence
keywords: Community violence; particulate matter; prenatal exposure; prenatal stress; repeated wheeze; traffic air pollution