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. 1991 Oct;100(4):922-6.
doi: 10.1378/chest.100.4.922.

Childhood asthma and the indoor environment

C Dekker  1 , R Dales, S Bartlett, B Brunekreef, H Zwanenburg
Affiliations

Childhood asthma and the indoor environment

C Dekker et al. Chest. 1991 Oct.

Abstract

To investigate the influence of indoor air quality on respiratory health, a questionnaire-based study of 17,962 Canadian schoolchildren in kindergarten through grade 2 was carried out in 1988. The present report focuses on associations between several indoor environmental factors and childhood asthma. Increased reports of physician-diagnosed asthma were significantly associated (p less than 0.001) with exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (OR = 1.4), living in a damp home (OR = 1.5), the use of gas for cooking (OR = 2.0) and the use of a humidifier (OR = 1.7). Wheezing without a diagnosis of asthma also was associated (p less than 0.01) with environmental tobacco smoke (OR = 1.4, home dampness (OR = 1.6) and humidifier use (OR = 1.4), but not with gas cooking. Thus, several modifiable risk factors for respiratory illness may exist in Canadian homes. Further research is required to determine the nature of these cross-sectional observations.

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