Prevalence of Childhood Asthma and Allergies and Their Associations with Perinatal Exposure to Home Environmental Factors: A Cross-Sectional Study in Tianjin, China

Agnes S. Ellie, Yuexia Sun, Jing Hou, Pan Wang, Qingnan Zhang and Jan Sundell
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Agnes S. Ellie: Tianjin Key Laboratory of Indoor Air Environmental Quality Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, No.135 Yaguan Road, Haihe Education Park, Tianjin 300350, China
Yuexia Sun: Tianjin Key Laboratory of Indoor Air Environmental Quality Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, No.135 Yaguan Road, Haihe Education Park, Tianjin 300350, China
Jing Hou: Tianjin Key Laboratory of Indoor Air Environmental Quality Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, No.135 Yaguan Road, Haihe Education Park, Tianjin 300350, China
Pan Wang: Tianjin Key Laboratory of Indoor Air Environmental Quality Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, No.135 Yaguan Road, Haihe Education Park, Tianjin 300350, China
Qingnan Zhang: Tianjin Key Laboratory of Indoor Air Environmental Quality Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, No.135 Yaguan Road, Haihe Education Park, Tianjin 300350, China
Jan Sundell: Tianjin Key Laboratory of Indoor Air Environmental Quality Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, No.135 Yaguan Road, Haihe Education Park, Tianjin 300350, China

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 8, 1-11

Abstract: Asthma, rhinitis, and eczema are becoming increasingly prevalent among children in China. Studies have shown that the perinatal period is critical and impacts children’s health. However, research on the associations between perinatal factors and childhood allergic diseases in China are few. We investigated 7366 children of ages 0–8 years old. The childhood asthma and allergies were surveyed by distributing questionnaires, modelled after Dampness in Buildings and Health (DBH) study in Sweden and had been validated. To determine the prevalence of the allergic conditions, explore for potential confounders, and analyze the associations between the allergies and the home environmental factors, chi-square test and binary logistic regression models (enter method) were employed. The prevalence of children’s doctor-diagnosed asthma, rhinitis, and eczema were 4.4%, 9.5%, and 39.1%, respectively. After adjusting for sociodemographic factors, the negative effect of dampness/humidity on children’s health became more obvious, with odd ratios (aORs) of up to 1.70 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.12–2.57) for doctor-diagnosed asthma (DDA), 2.12 (95% CI: 1.38–3.25) for doctor-diagnosed rhinitis (DDR) and 1.79 (95% CI: 1.46–2.21) for doctor-diagnosed eczema (DDE). With parental smoking, aORs of up to 4.66 (95% CI: 1.99–10.92) for DDA and 1.74 (95%: 1.00–3.02) for DDE. Renovation exhibited aORs of up to 1.67 (95% CI: 1.13–2.47) for DDR. Although they showed no significant associations with some of the health outcomes, contact with animals, in general, were risk factors for the allergic conditions. Generally, the indoor environmental factors around the perinatal period were significant risk factors for the doctor-diagnosed allergic conditions discussed in this study.

Keywords: rhinitis; eczema; indoor environmental factors; dampness; renovation; parental smoking (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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