Abstract
BackgroundIndoor air pollution from biomass fuel is responsible for 50,320 annual deaths of children under-five year, accounting for 4.9% of the national burden of disease in Ethiopia. Acute respiratory infections are the leading cause of mortality among children in Ethiopia. There is limited research that has examined the association between the use of biomass fuel and acute respiratory infections among children.MethodsA community based cross-sectional study was conducted during January to February 2012 among 422 households in the slum of Addis Ababa. Data were collected by using structured and pretested questionnaire. Odds ratio was done to determine association between independent variables and acute respiratory infections by using logistic regression analysis. Multivariate logistic regression was used to determine the presence of an association between biomass fuel use and acute respiratory infections after controlling for other confounding variables.ResultsNearly 253 (60%) of children live in households that predominately used biomass fuel. The two weeks prevalence of acute respiratory infection was 23.9%. The odds ratios of acute respiratory infection were 2.97 (95% CI: 1.38-3.87) and 1.96 (95% CI: 0.78-4.89) in households using biomass fuel and kerosene, respectively, relative to cleaner fuels.ConclusionThere is an association between biomass fuel usage and acute respiratory infection in children. The relationship needs investigation which measure indoor air pollution and clinical measures of acute respiratory infection.
Highlights
Indoor air pollution from biomass fuel is responsible for 50,320 annual deaths of children under-five year, accounting for 4.9% of the national burden of disease in Ethiopia
Socio-demographic characteristics A total of 422 samples in Addis Ababa households were involved in this study
In terms of smoking habit, 62 (14.7%) had at least one member within the household who smokes more than one cigarette a day at home compared with 360 (85.3%) non-smokers
Summary
Indoor air pollution from biomass fuel is responsible for 50,320 annual deaths of children under-five year, accounting for 4.9% of the national burden of disease in Ethiopia. There is limited research that has examined the association between the use of biomass fuel and acute respiratory infections among children. The most important direct health effect results from indoor air pollution (IAP) produced by burning biomass fuels and coal in simple stoves with inadequate ventilation [1]. IAP is responsible for more than 1.6 million deaths annually and 2.7% of the Biomass fuels are at the low end of the energy ladder in terms of combustion efficiency and cleanliness. World Health Organization (WHO) estimates on burden of diseases for the year 2002, IAP from biomass use accounted for 3.7% of the burden of disease in developing countries [1]
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