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. 2009 Mar;123(3):626-31.
doi: 10.1016/j.jaci.2008.10.062. Epub 2009 Jan 18.

Exposure to traffic: lung function and health status in adults with asthma

John R Balmes  1 , Gillian Earnest, Patricia P Katz, Edward H Yelin, Mark D Eisner, Hubert Chen, Laura Trupin, Fred Lurmann, Paul D Blanc
Affiliations

Exposure to traffic: lung function and health status in adults with asthma

John R Balmes et al. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2009 Mar.

Abstract

Background: Exposure to traffic has been associated with asthma outcomes in children, but its effect on asthma in adults has not been well studied.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that lung function and health status are associated with traffic exposures.

Methods: We measured FEV(1) % predicted, general health status using the Physical Component Scale of the 12-item Short Form (SF-12 PCS), and quality of life (QoL) using the Marks Asthma Quality of Life questionnaire in a cohort of adults with asthma or rhinitis (n = 176; 145 with asthma). We assessed exposures to traffic by geocoding subjects' residential addresses and assigning distance to roadways. Associations between distance to nearest roadway and distance to nearest major roadway and FEV(1) % predicted or SF-12 PCS were studied by using linear regression.

Results: FEV(1) % predicted was positively associated with distance from both nearest roadway (P = .01) and nearest major roadway (P = .02). SF-12 PCS and QoL were not significantly associated with either traffic variable. Adjustment for income, smoking, and obesity did not substantively change the associations of the traffic variables with FEV(1) % predicted (P = .04 for nearest roadway and P = .02 for nearest major roadway) and did not cause associations with either SF-12 PCS or QoL to become significant.

Conclusions: Traffic exposure was associated with decreased lung function in adults with asthma.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Scheme of subject eligibility for this sub-study.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Distribution of distance in meters to nearest of each of four different types of roadway for the 176 study participants. The four roadway types are the following: interstate/freeway (blue), highway (yellow), arterial/major collector (red), and local/minor collector (green).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Mean FEV1 % predicted values for quartiles of distance from nearest roadway in meters for the asthmatic subjects (n=144).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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