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
. 2025 Jun 30:284:122254.
doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2025.122254. Online ahead of print.

Mouldy area size and asthma symptom score and control in adults: the CONSTANCES cohort

Tajidine Tsiavia  1 , Emilie Fréalle  2 , Valérie Bex  3 , Orianne Dumas  1 , Marcel Goldberg  4 , Nicole Le Moual  1 , Celine Ribet  4 , Nicolas Roche  5 , Marine Savouré  6 , Raphaëlle Varraso  1 , Marie Zins  4 , Bénédicte Leynaert  1 , Rachel Nadif  1 , Laurent Orsi  7
Affiliations
Free article

Mouldy area size and asthma symptom score and control in adults: the CONSTANCES cohort

Tajidine Tsiavia et al. Environ Res. .
Free article

Abstract

Background: Studies on indoor mould contamination and asthma in adults are scarce, although there is evidence of deleterious effects on childhood asthma. Associations between different mould contamination indicators and asthma were investigated in adults from the largest French prospective population-based cohort.

Methods: Participants completed standardized questionnaires: on visible mould and mouldy area size (0 m2, spots, <0.2 m2, [0.2 m2-1 m2], ]1 m2-3 m2] or >3 m2) in bathroom, kitchen, or main living quarters (living room, bedroom) in 2019, and on respiratory health (2019-2022). Associations between indoor mould with current asthma, asthma symptom score (sum of five respiratory symptoms in the last 12 months), and uncontrolled asthma (Asthma Control Test<20) were evaluated by zero-inflated negative binomial and logistic models adjusted for age, sex, smoking, education, dwelling type and French deprivation index. Sensitivity analyses: in subgroups, stratified by dwelling type or sex, and further adjustments for region, occupant-surface ratio, body mass index, occupant (owner/tenant) and rural/urban areas were performed.

Findings: Analyses included 28 596 adults (mean age: 55 years old, 55 % women, 70 % living in houses, 24 % reported at least one asthma symptom, 7.4 % current asthma of whom 15.1 % had uncontrolled asthma). Visible mould and mouldy area size>3 m2 were reported by 21.2 % and 0.3 % of participants, respectively. Visible mould in dwelling was significantly associated with current asthma, asthma symptom score and uncontrolled asthma (OR and mean score ratio (MSR) around 1.40), stronger effect in the main living quarters. Mouldy area size was significantly associated with higher risk of current asthma (all ORs≥1.29, p-trend<0.001) and increased asthma symptom score (all MSRs≥1.32, p-trend<0.001). No heterogeneity was found by dwelling type or sex. Results were consistent across sensitivity analyses.

Interpretation: Mouldy area size was associated with current asthma and asthma symptom score, even for small sizes, adding new insight of the associations between mould contamination and asthma in adults.

Keywords: Adults; Asthma; Indoor air; Mouldy area size; Population-based cohort.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests:Emilie Frealle reports financial support was provided by French National Research Agency. Emilie Frealle reports financial support was provided by National Agency for Food Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety. Nicolas Roche reports a relationship with Boehringer Ingelheim Ltd that includes: consulting or advisory, funding grants, and speaking and lecture fees. Nicolas Roche reports a relationship with Novartis that includes: consulting or advisory, funding grants, and speaking and lecture fees. Nicolas Roche reports a relationship with GSK that includes: consulting or advisory, funding grants, speaking and lecture fees, and travel reimbursement. Nicolas Roche reports a relationship with Pfizer that includes: consulting or advisory, funding grants, and speaking and lecture fees. Nicolas Roche reports a relationship with AstraZeneca that includes: consulting or advisory, speaking and lecture fees, and travel reimbursement. Nicolas Roche reports a relationship with Sanofi that includes: consulting or advisory and speaking and lecture fees. Nicolas Roche reports a relationship with Chiesi SA France that includes: consulting or advisory, speaking and lecture fees, and travel reimbursement. Nicolas Roche reports a relationship with Teva Santé SAS that includes: consulting or advisory and speaking and lecture fees. Nicolas Roche reports a relationship with Bayer AG that includes: consulting or advisory. Nicolas Roche reports a relationship with Biosency that includes: consulting or advisory. Nicolas Roche reports a relationship with Austral that includes: consulting or advisory. Nicolas Roche reports a relationship with Zambon France SA that includes: consulting or advisory. Nicolas Roche reports a relationship with MSD France SAS that includes: consulting or advisory. Nicolas Roche reports a relationship with Laboratories Menarini France SA that includes: consulting or advisory. Nicolas Roche is science Council Chair of European Respiratory Society (ERS). If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

LinkOut - more resources