Indoor swimming pool attendance and respiratory and dermal health in schoolchildren--HITEA Catalonia.
BACKGROUND
Health benefits of swimming in pools may outweigh adverse health outcomes in children, but evidence from epidemiological studies is scarce or inconclusive for different health outcomes. We evaluated the association between indoor swimming pool attendance during childhood and respiratory and dermal conditions and symptoms in Catalan schoolchildren.


METHODS
Cross-sectional study in 2758 children aged 6-12 years from 18 primary schools in Barcelona province. Information on regular indoor swimming pool attendance in seven age periods, history of health conditions (asthma, wheezing, eczema, dermatitis, rhinitis, allergic rhinitis) and symptoms in the last 12 months (wheezing, dermatitis, rhinitis and number of cold, tonsillitis or otitis episodes) were collected through parental self-administered questionnaires. The associations between swimming pool attendance and health outcomes were evaluated using multivariate mixed logistic and Poisson regression models.


RESULTS
Regular indoor swimming before 2 years of age was not related to having ever had asthma (Odds Ratio (OR) = 1.14; 95%CI = 0.73-1.77), wheezing (OR = 1.02; 95%CI = 0.82-1.28), or eczema (OR = 1.09; 95%CI = 0.87-1.36). Current indoor swimming was not associated with symptoms in the last 12 months (Incidence Rate Ratio for otitis was 0.94; 95%CI = 0.77-1.15). Stratification by eczema or maternal education gave very similar results.


CONCLUSIONS
This new large population-based study indicates that regular indoor swimming during infancy does not increase respiratory, allergic or dermal symptoms in Catalan schoolchildren aged 6-12 years.
Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL), Barcelona, Spain; IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute), Barcelona, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain; CIBER de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Spain. Electronic address: lfont@creal.cat.
Laia
L
Font-Ribera
Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL), Barcelona, Spain; IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute), Barcelona, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain; CIBER de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Spain.
Cristina M
CM
Villanueva
Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL), Barcelona, Spain; IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute), Barcelona, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain; CIBER de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Spain.
Esther
E
Gràcia-Lavedan
Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL), Barcelona, Spain; IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute), Barcelona, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain; CIBER de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Spain.
Alícia
A
Borràs-Santos
Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL), Barcelona, Spain; IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute), Barcelona, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain; CIBER de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Spain; National School of Public Health, Athens, Greece.
Manolis
M
Kogevinas
Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL), Barcelona, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain; CIBER de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Spain; Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Jan-Paul
JP
Zock
D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004485:Eczema / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012135:Respiratory Sounds / Q000209:etiology; D012140:Respiratory Tract Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D012220:Rhinitis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D065631:Rhinitis, Allergic / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology; D013551:Swimming Pools
Asthma; Eczema; Epidemiology; Pediatric; Upper respiratory tract infections