Abstract
We explored the relative strength of environmental and social factors associated with pediatric asthma in middle class families and considered the efficacy of recruitment for an educational study at a science museum. Eligibility criteria were having a child aged 4–12 and English fluency. Our questionnaire included information on demographics, home environment, medical history, and environmental toxicant exposures. Statistically significant associations were found for: child’s age (t = −2.46; p = 0.014), allergies (OR = 11.5; 95%CI = 5.9–22.5), maternal asthma (OR = 2.2; 95%CI = 1.2–3.9), parents’ education level (OR = 0.5; 95%CI = 0.3–0.9), family income (OR = 2.4; 95%CI = 1.1–5.5), water damage at home (OR = 2.5; 95%CI = 1.1–5.5), stuffed animals in bedroom (OR = 0.4; 95%CI = 0.2–0.7), hospitalization within a week after birth (OR = 3.2; 95%CI = 1.4–7.0), diagnosis of pneumonia (OR = 2.8; 95%CI = 1.4–5.9), and multiple colds in a year (OR = 2.9; 95%CI = 1.5–5.7). Several other associations approached statistical significance, including African American race (OR = 3.3; 95%CI = 1.0–10.7), vitamin D supplement directive (OR = 0.2; 95%CI = 0.02–1.2), mice in the home (OR = 0.5, 95%CI = 0.2–1.1), and cockroaches in the home (OR = 4.3; CI = 0.8–21.6). In logistic regression, age, parents’ education, allergies, mold allergies, hospitalization after birth, stuffed animals in the bedroom, vitamin D supplement directive, and water damage in the home were all significant independent predictors of asthma. The urban science museum was a low-resource approach to address the relative importance of risk factors in this population.
Highlights
Over 12 percent of U.S children have been diagnosed with asthma in their lifetimes [1]
Demographic factors associated with asthma were age above eight years and annual family income below $50,000
Since there were only nine participants in the study with a family income of less than $25,000 and a sub-analysis showed that the same proportion of participants with a family income of less than $25,000 had asthma as participants with a family income of less than $50,000 (3/9 compared to 10/30), the results for the lower two income brackets were combined
Summary
Over 12 percent of U.S children have been diagnosed with asthma in their lifetimes [1]. Children who are of non-Hispanic black race, and children in low income families are more likely to have been diagnosed with asthma [2]. While environmental factors, such as second hand smoke [3]. Allergens [4,5], and physical factors, such as exercise [6] and respiratory illnesses [7], are known to exacerbate asthma attacks, less is known about each factor’s relative role in the pathogenesis of asthma. Social and environmental factors such as allergen exposure [11,12,13,14] and ambient air pollution [15,16] may play a role. Prenatal exposure to tobacco [17,18,19] and maternal vitamin D status [20,21]
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