Housing characteristics, home environmental factors and respiratory health in 14,729 Chinese children.

BACKGROUND: Very few studies have assessed the relative impact of housing characteristics and home environmental factors on asthma and asthma-related symptoms in Chinese children who have lower rates of asthma. To our knowledge few studies have assessed respiratory symptoms and allergies in this context.

METHODS: To assess the effects of housing characteristics, pet keeping, home decorations and other indoor environmental factors on respiratory health of Chinese children. We studied a population of 14,729 children (1-13 years old) from 12 districts in Liaoning province, Northeast China. Information on respiratory health, housing characteristics, and environmental pollutions were obtained by a standard questionnaire from the American Thoracic Society.

RESULTS: Housing conditions, house adjacent to traffic or not, house with or without pollution source nearby, pet keeping, presence of pests and mold/water damage in the home, home decorations and exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) were associated with doctor-diagnosed asthma and asthma-related symptoms both in boys and girls. The vulnerability towards exposure to housing conditions and environmental factors differed between males and females. Among boys, the risk of respiratory morbidity appeared to be reduced in households with larger surface areas and more rooms; use of a ventilation device was strongly protective against persistent phlegm (OR=0.68; 95%CI: 0.48, 0.96). Asthma-related symptoms were more associated with different pets among girls than among boys. The presence of a cat in the household was associated with doctor-diagnosed asthma (OR=1.89; 95% CI, 1.11-3.20), current wheeze (OR=2.64; 95% CI, 1.52-4.59), persistent cough (OR=1.84; 95% CI, 1.18-2.87) and persistent phlegm (OR=2.17; 95% CI, 1.21-3.87) only among girls.

CONCLUSION: Living within the vicinity of a source of pollution, traffic, pet keeping, home decorations, pests, mold and ETS are important determinants of children's respiratory health in China.