Environmental Factors Found in Homes of Asthmatics

Abstract

RATIONALE: Asthma is often considered to be an environmentally related disease. To investigate home environmental factors that might contribute to asthma we conducted the following study.METHODS: Two populations containing respectively 20 asthmatic subjects and 19 control subjects were surveyed. The test population consisted of homes occupied by a minimum of 3 individuals with at least one asthmatic child. The control population consisted of homes occupied by at least 3 individuals that did not contain an asthmatic child. The surveys were completed by a parent in consultation with their children. The subjects answered survey questions about conditions in the home including presence of moisture and pests. The subjects also completed 25 questions related to their quality of life covering both physical and emotional concerns.RESULTS: Quality of life results were significantly lower for the asthmatic group with mean scores below 80% of optimum while the non-asthmatic group had mean scores above 90% of optimum (p<0.01). Factors in asthmatic homes that were dramatically different from comparison homes included: regular use of household chemical sprays (90% vs. 70%); roof and plumbing leaks (75% vs. 55%); wet basements (40% vs. 20%); presence of roaches and insects (85% vs. 60%).CONCLUSIONS: Quality of life questionnaires indicate a clear difference between homes with and without an asthmatic child. Home environmental conditions evaluated by subject completed survey can be useful in evaluating asthmatics. Further study is needed to see if remediation of these environmental factors improves the quality of life scores. RATIONALE: Asthma is often considered to be an environmentally related disease. To investigate home environmental factors that might contribute to asthma we conducted the following study. METHODS: Two populations containing respectively 20 asthmatic subjects and 19 control subjects were surveyed. The test population consisted of homes occupied by a minimum of 3 individuals with at least one asthmatic child. The control population consisted of homes occupied by at least 3 individuals that did not contain an asthmatic child. The surveys were completed by a parent in consultation with their children. The subjects answered survey questions about conditions in the home including presence of moisture and pests. The subjects also completed 25 questions related to their quality of life covering both physical and emotional concerns. RESULTS: Quality of life results were significantly lower for the asthmatic group with mean scores below 80% of optimum while the non-asthmatic group had mean scores above 90% of optimum (p<0.01). Factors in asthmatic homes that were dramatically different from comparison homes included: regular use of household chemical sprays (90% vs. 70%); roof and plumbing leaks (75% vs. 55%); wet basements (40% vs. 20%); presence of roaches and insects (85% vs. 60%). CONCLUSIONS: Quality of life questionnaires indicate a clear difference between homes with and without an asthmatic child. Home environmental conditions evaluated by subject completed survey can be useful in evaluating asthmatics. Further study is needed to see if remediation of these environmental factors improves the quality of life scores.