Abstract
BackgroundQuantifying the effects of personal health behaviors and environmental exposure on asthma flare-ups is a challenge. Most studies have focused on monitoring the symptoms and drug usage for relieving symptoms. In this study, we emphasize the need to understand how personal and environmental conditions are related to the occurrence of asthma symptoms.MethodsWe designed an online health diary platform to collect personal health behaviors from children, their parents and other adults with any allergic diseases including asthma, allergic rhinitis, atopic dermatitis and allergic conjunctivitis. The participants used mobile devices or computers to record their daily health-related activities such as sleep, exercise, diet, perception of air quality and temperature, and asthma symptoms. The participants also recorded secondhand smoke exposure and the time of activities, which were combined with ambient air quality measurements for calculating personal air pollution exposure. A generalized linear mixed model was used to estimate the effects of the factors.ResultsDuring the study period (January 2017–June 2017, and October 2017–September 2018), 132 participants provided 25,016 diary entries, and 84 participants had experienced asthma symptoms in 1458 diary entries. The results showed some different risk factors for the minors and adults. For minors, high-intensity exercise, contact with persons with influenza-like illness (ILI) and the perception of hot temperature and bad indoor air quality were associated with the occurrence of asthma episodes. The identified risk factors for the adult participants included having dehumidifiers at home, exposure to secondhand smoke, having bad sleep quality, contact with persons with ILI, not eating fruit and seafood, perceiving cold temperature, bad quality of indoor and outdoor air, and exposure to high concentration of ozone.ConclusionsThe revealed personal risk factors and perceptions of air quality and temperature may provide guidance on behavioral change for people susceptible to asthma to help control acute onset and severe exacerbation of asthma flare-ups.
Highlights
Quantifying the effects of personal health behaviors and environmental exposure on asthma flare-ups is a challenge
Participants were asked to fill in their demographic data including gender, age, township of residence, whether they had dehumidifiers at home, whether they had carpets at home, whether they had black mold spots on the walls, and whether they had been clinically diagnosed with asthma, allergic rhinitis, allergic conjunctivitis, or atopic dermatitis
Our baseline survey shows that 89% of participants had a history of allergic rhinitis
Summary
Quantifying the effects of personal health behaviors and environmental exposure on asthma flare-ups is a challenge. Asthma relapse was attributed to personal and environmental factors. Diet behaviors [13], exercise [14], and sleeping quality [15] are reported to be correlated with asthma relapse. All this information is dynamic in daily life and not easy to capture in traditional one-shot surveys. The diary approach might be a good solution to collect health behaviors and estimate environmental exposure levels. The dynamic information of daily activity and exposure was not collected for assessing the risk factors and the occurrence of asthma symptoms
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
