title: Bedbug complaints among public housing residents-New York City, 2010-2011.
abstract: Few studies have evaluated population-level risk factors for having a bedbug infestation. We describe characteristics associated with bedbug complaints among New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) residents. Unique households receiving bedbug extermination services in response to a complaint during January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2011 were identified from NYCHA's central facilities work order database. We examined associations between household characteristics and having a bedbug complaint using a generalized estimating equation Poisson regression model, accounting for clustering by housing development. Of the 176,327 NYCHA households, 11,660 (6.6 %) registered a bedbug complaint during 2010-2011. Bedbug complaints were independently associated with households having five or more children versus no children (prevalence ratio [PR] = 2.0), five or more adults versus one adult (PR = 1.6), a head of household (HOH) with impaired mobility (PR = 1.3), a household member receiving public assistance (PR = 1.2), a household income below poverty level (PR = 1.1), and a female HOH (PR = 1.1). Infestations were less likely to be reported by households with employed members (PR = 0.9), and an HOH aged 30-44 years (PR = 0.9) or 45-61 years (PR = 0.9), compared with an HOH aged 18-29 years. These results indicate that bedbug control efforts in public housing should be targeted toward households with low income and high occupancy.
authors.affiliation: Arctic Investigations Program, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Anchorage, AK, USA, iym4@cdc.gov.
authors.forename: Prabhu
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gounder
authors.forename: Nancy
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ralph
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Maroko
authors.forename: Lorna
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Thorpe
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D001511:Bedbugs; D004478:Ectoparasitic Infestations / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004782:Environmental Health; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007299:Insect Bites and Stings / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009519:New York City / Q000453:epidemiology; D011638:Public Housing; D055815:Young Adult