Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2022 Feb 7;19(3):1854.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph19031854.

Prevalence, Risk Factors and Impacts Related to Mould-Affected Housing: An Australian Integrative Review

Lisa Coulburn  1 , Wendy Miller  1
Affiliations
Review

Prevalence, Risk Factors and Impacts Related to Mould-Affected Housing: An Australian Integrative Review

Lisa Coulburn et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

In response to an Australian governmental inquiry into biotoxin-related illness, the purpose of this integrative review is to bring together the current state of evidence on the prevalence, risk factors and impacts related to mould-affected housing in an Australian context, in order to inform building, housing and health research, practice and policy. The robust integrative review methodology simultaneously sought quantitative and qualitative studies and grey literature from multiple disciplines, identifying only 45 studies directly relating to Australian housing and indoor mould. Twenty-one studies highlight negative health impacts relating to indoor residential mould, with asthma, respiratory, allergy conditions and emerging health concerns for chronic multiple-symptom presentation. The majority of studies reported risk factors for indoor mould including poor housing conditions, poor-quality rental accommodation, socioeconomic circumstance, age-related housing issues and concerns for surface/interstitial condensation and building defects in newer housing. Risks for indoor mould in both older and newer housing raise concerns for the extent of the problem of indoor mould in Australia. Understanding the national prevalence of housing risks and "root cause" associated with indoor mould is not conclusive from the limited existing evidence. Synthesis of this evidence reveals a lack of coverage on: (1) national and geographical representation, (2) climatical coverage, (3) housing typologies, (4) housing defects, (5) maintenance, (6) impact from urbanisation, and (7) occupant's behaviour. This integrative review was key in identifying emerging housing and health concerns, highlighting gaps in data and implications to be addressed by researchers, practice and policy and acts as a comprehensive holistic review process that can be applied to other countries.

Keywords: Australia; building characteristics; health; housing conditions; mold; mould; risk factors.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) flowchart of search results.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Chronological distribution of reviewed studies by theme and data collection year.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The geographical distribution of all included studies in relation to climate zones.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The distribution of housing conditions and building characteristic studies in relation to average RH.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Prevalence of reported indoor mould/mildew/fungi conditions within the included studies by climate zone and data year.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. World Health Organization (WHO) WHO Guidelines for Indoor Air Quality: Dampness and Mould. [(accessed on 25 July 2019)]. Available online: https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/164348. - PubMed
    1. Omebeyinje M.H., Adeluyi A., Mitra C., Chakraborty P., Gandee G.M., Patel N., Verghese B., Farrance C.E., Hull M., Basu P., et al. Increased prevalence of indoor: Aspergillus and penicillium species is associated with indoor flooding and coastal proximity: A case study of 28 moldy buildings. Environ. Sci. Process. Impacts. 2021;23:1681–1687. doi: 10.1039/D1EM00202C. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Haverinen-Shaughnessy U. Prevalence of dampness and mold in European housing stock. J. Expo. Sci. Environ. Epidemiol. 2012;22:461–467. doi: 10.1038/jes.2012.21. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Norbäck D., Zock J.P., Plana E., Heinrich J., Tischer C., Jacobsen Bertelsen R., Sunyer J., Künzli N., Villani S., Olivieri M., et al. Building dampness and mold in European homes in relation to climate, building characteristics and socio-economic status: The European community respiratory health survey ECRHS II. Indoor Air. 2017;27:921–932. doi: 10.1111/ina.12375. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Gunnbjornsdottir M.I. Prevalence and incidence of respiratory symptoms in relation to indoor dampness: The RHINE study. Thorax. 2006;61:221–225. doi: 10.1136/thx.2005.057430. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types