title: Exposure to harmful housing conditions is common in children admitted to Wellington Hospital.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To measure the prevalence of exposure to potentially modifiable risk factors in the homes of children hospitalised in Wellington.
  
  
  METHODS
  Parents/caregivers of all children admitted to Wellington Public Hospital during a two-week period in July 2012 completed a standardised questionnaire in a face-to-face interview. The questionnaire collected sociodemographic, health and housing condition data.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We interviewed parents/caregivers of 106 children, of whom 72% were aged 0-4 years. Respiratory conditions were the most common cause of admission. One third of parents noticed dampness and mould in their house, 50% stated that their house was colder than they preferred during the past month, 20% lived in uninsulated houses, 20% lived in overcrowded houses, and 38% were exposed to second hand smoke (SHS). Compared to New Zealand European (NZE) children, the odds ratios (OR) for Pacific children living in cold and overcrowded houses and being exposed to SHS were 14.0 (95%CI 3.0-66.0), 10.8 (95%CI 2.6-44.1) and 16.0 (95%CI 4.8-55.5) respectively. OR for Maori children living in cold and overcrowded houses and being exposed to SHS were 3.0 (95%CI 1.0-9.0), 6.8 (95%CI 1.6-30.1) and 8.0 (95%CI 2.5-28.6) respectively, compared to NZE children. The OR for children from deprived neighbourhoods (NZDep2006 areas 7-10) living in cold and overcrowded houses and being exposed to SHS were 4.1 (95%CI 1.8-9.6), 5.7 (95%CI 1.9-17.0) and 4.1 (95%CI 1.6-9.6) respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Among children admitted to Wellington Hospital there is a high prevalence of exposure to cold, damp and overcrowded houses and many children are exposed to SHS. Maori and Pacific children and children living in socioeconomically deprived areas are more likely than others to be exposed to these potential risk factors for childhood hospitalisation. This audit of child admissions could be repeated to provide surveillance of modifiable risk factors. A shortened version of the questionnaire could be used to screen children to identify those with harmful exposures in their home environment, provided suitable intervention programmes can be established.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, University of Otago, Wellington, Box 7343, Wellington, New Zealand 6242. michael.baker@otago.ac.nz.
authors.forename: Ashton
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kelly
authors.forename: Georgina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Denning-Kemp
authors.forename: Karl
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Geiringer
authors.forename: Asim
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Abdulhamid
authors.forename: Abdulrahman
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Albabtain
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Beard
authors.forename: Justin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Brimble
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.forename: Sijing
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.forename: Mohamad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Haminudin
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hunter
authors.forename: Natasha
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kunac
authors.forename: Peny
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lundon
authors.forename: Amanda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Waclawczyk
authors.forename: Jens C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Richter
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Keall
authors.forename: Philippa
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Howden-Chapman
authors.forename: Michael G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Baker
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D003080:Cold Temperature; D003441:Crowding; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006361:Heating / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006798:Housing; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D009520:New Zealand; D010290:Parents; D012307:Risk Factors; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
chemical_list: D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution