Asthma Associations in Children Attending a Museum of Science

Laura Corlin, Mark Woodin, Danny Newhide, Erika Brown, Sarah Valentina Diaz, Amy Chi and Doug Brugge
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Laura Corlin: Community Health Program, Tufts University School of Arts and Sciences, Medford, MA 02155, USA
Mark Woodin: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA
Danny Newhide: Community Health Program, Tufts University School of Arts and Sciences, Medford, MA 02155, USA
Erika Brown: Community Health Program, Tufts University School of Arts and Sciences, Medford, MA 02155, USA
Sarah Valentina Diaz: Community Health Program, Tufts University School of Arts and Sciences, Medford, MA 02155, USA
Amy Chi: Tufts Medical Center, Boston, MA 02111, USA
Doug Brugge: Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02111, USA

IJERPH, 2013, vol. 10, issue 9, 1-15

Abstract: We explored the relative strength of environmental and social factors associated with pediatric asthma in middle class families and considered the efficacy of recruitment for an educational study at a science museum. Eligibility criteria were having a child aged 4–12 and English fluency. Our questionnaire included information on demographics, home environment, medical history, and environmental toxicant exposures. Statistically significant associations were found for: child’s age ( t = ?2.46; p = 0.014), allergies (OR = 11.5; 95%CI = 5.9–22.5), maternal asthma (OR = 2.2; 95%CI = 1.2–3.9), parents’ education level (OR = 0.5; 95%CI = 0.3–0.9), family income (OR = 2.4; 95%CI = 1.1–5.5), water damage at home (OR = 2.5; 95%CI = 1.1–5.5), stuffed animals in bedroom (OR = 0.4; 95%CI = 0.2–0.7), hospitalization within a week after birth (OR = 3.2; 95%CI = 1.4–7.0), diagnosis of pneumonia (OR = 2.8; 95%CI = 1.4–5.9), and multiple colds in a year (OR = 2.9; 95%CI = 1.5–5.7). Several other associations approached statistical significance, including African American race (OR = 3.3; 95%CI = 1.0–10.7), vitamin D supplement directive (OR = 0.2; 95%CI = 0.02–1.2), mice in the home (OR = 0.5, 95%CI = 0.2–1.1), and cockroaches in the home (OR = 4.3; CI = 0.8–21.6). In logistic regression, age, parents’ education, allergies, mold allergies, hospitalization after birth, stuffed animals in the bedroom, vitamin D supplement directive, and water damage in the home were all significant independent predictors of asthma. The urban science museum was a low-resource approach to address the relative importance of risk factors in this population.

Keywords: pediatric; asthma; risk factors; respiratory; family history; allergies; medical history; environment; urban (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
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