Healthy housing: the role of the environmental health officer.

African Americans and socioeconomically disadvantaged individuals have higher rates of a variety of sleep disturbances, including short sleep duration, poor sleep quality, and fragmented sleep. Such sleep disturbances may contribute to pervasive and widening racial and socioeconomic (SES) disparities in health. A growing body of literature demonstrates that over and above individual-level SES, indicators of neighborhood disadvantage are associated with poor sleep. However, there has been scant investigation of the association between sleep and the most proximal environments, the home and residential block. This is the first study to examine the association between objective and self-reported measures of housing and block conditions and sleep. The sample included 634 adults (mean age = 58.7years; 95% African American) from two low-income urban neighborhoods. Study participants reported whether they experienced problems with any of seven different housing problems (e.g., broken windows) and rated the overall condition of their home. Trained data collectors rated residential block quality. Seven days of wrist actigraphy were used to measure average sleep duration, efficiency, and wakefulness after sleep onset (WASO), and a sleep diary assessed sleep quality. Multivariate regression analyses were conducted for each sleep outcome with housing or block conditions as predictors in separate models. Participants reporting "fair" or "poor" housing conditions had an adjusted average sleep duration that was 15.4min shorter than that of participants reporting "good" or "excellent" conditions. Those reporting any home distress had 15.9min shorter sleep and .19units lower mean sleep quality as compared with participants who did not report home distress. Poor objectively measured block quality was associated with 14.0min shorter sleep duration, 1.95% lower sleep efficiency, and 10.7 additional minutes of WASO. Adverse housing and proximal neighborhood conditions are independently associated with poor sleep health. Findings highlight the importance of considering strategies that target upstream determinants of sleep health disparities.

ObjectivePoor housing conditions have been linked with worse health outcomes and infectious disease spread. Since the relationship of poor housing conditions with incidence and mortality of COVID-19 is unknown, we investigated the association between poor housing condition and COVID-19 incidence and mortality in US counties.MethodsWe conducted cross-sectional analysis of county-level data from the US Centers for Disease Control, US Census Bureau and John Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center for 3135 US counties. The exposure of interest was percentage of households with poor housing conditions (one or greater of: overcrowding, high housing cost, incomplete kitchen facilities, or incomplete plumbing facilities). Outcomes were incidence rate ratios (IRR) and mortality rate ratios (MRR) of COVID-19 across US counties through 4/21/2020. Multilevel generalized linear modeling (with total population of each county as a denominator) was utilized to estimate relative risk of incidence and mortality related to poor housing conditions with adjustment for population density and county characteristics including demographics, income, education, prevalence of medical comorbidities, access to healthcare insurance and emergency rooms, and state-level COVID-19 test density. We report incidence rate ratios (IRRs) and mortality ratios (MRRs) for a 5% increase in prevalence in households with poor housing conditions.ResultsAcross 3135 US counties, the mean percentage of households with poor housing conditions was 14.2% (range 2.7% to 60.2%). On April 21st, the mean (SD) number of cases and deaths of COVID-19 were 255.68 (2877.03) cases and 13.90 (272.22) deaths per county, respectively. In the adjusted models standardized by county population, with each 5% increase in percent households with poor housing conditions, there was a 50% higher risk of COVID-19 incidence (IRR 1.50, 95% CI: 1.38–1.62) and a 42% higher risk of COVID-19 mortality (MRR 1.42, 95% CI: 1.25–1.61). Results remained similar using earlier timepoints (3/31/2020 and 4/10/2020).Conclusions and relevanceCounties with a higher percentage of households with poor housing had higher incidence of, and mortality associated with, COVID-19. These findings suggest targeted health policies to support individuals living in poor housing conditions should be considered in further efforts to mitigate adverse outcomes associated with COVID-19.

The efficacy of Respisure (Pfizer AH, USA), a vaccine against M. hyopneumoniae, was tested in pigs kept under good, moderate and poor housing conditions, respectively. The immune response, daily weight gain (DWG), lung lesions, and some parameters of meat important for production were examined. A total of 2.210 pigs from three different farms were used. One group of 1.105 piglets was vaccinated at the ages of 1 and 3 weeks. The second group of 1.105 piglets was used as a control. A total of 132 pigs were investigated in detail. ELISA (Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) showed that antibodies against M. hyopneumoniae were formed on day 28 after the second vaccination in all vaccinated pigs. In control groups on the farms with moderate and poor housing seroconversion to M. hyopneumoniae antibodies started at 49 and 91 days of age, respectively. Vaccination and housing conditions, taken separately, had significant effects on DWG and lean meat percentage (p <0.05). Vaccination was equally effective in all studied housing conditions (p = 0.93). Similarly, vaccination very significantly reduced lung lesions (p<0.0001). We conclude that Respisure is a highly effective vaccine against swine EP (enzootic pneumonia). We also conclude that it is equally effective in pigs kept under good and poor housing conditions.

Housing, stress, and physical well-being: evidence from Thailand.

Doctors are often asked to appeal to housing departments to take a child’s ill health into consideration for rehousing points. Less frequently they are asked to provide evidence on behalf...

Social gradients have been found across European populations, where less affluent groups are more often affected by poor housing and neighbourhood conditions. While poor housing and neighbourhood quality have been associated with a range of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), these conditions have rarely been applied to the examination of socioeconomic differences in NCDs. This study therefore asks ‘to what extent does adjusting for poor housing and neighbourhood conditions reduce inequalities in NCDs among men and women in Europe’? Our analysis used pooled-data from 20 European countries for women (n= 12 794) and men (n= 11 974), aged 25–75, from round 7 of the European Social Survey. Fourteen NCDs were investigated: heart/circulatory problems, high blood pressure, back pain, arm/hand pain, foot/leg pain, allergies, breathing problems, stomach/digestion problems, skin conditions, diabetes, severe headaches, cancer, obesity and depression. We used binary logistic regression models, stratified by gender, and adjusted rate ratios to examine whether educational inequalities in NCDs were reduced after controlling for poor housing and neighbourhood quality. Overall, we find that adjusting for poor housing and neighbourhood quality reduces inequalities in NCDs. While reductions were relatively small for some NCDs–for high blood pressure, reductions were found in the range of 0–4.27% among women—for other conditions reductions were more considerable. Controlling for both housing and neighbourhood conditions for example, reduced inequalities by 16–24% for severe headaches and 14–30% for breathing problems. Social gradients in poor housing and neighbourhood quality could be an important contributor to educational inequalities in some NCDs.

Housing and asthma disparities

Poor housing conditions have been linked with worse health outcomes and infectious disease spread. Since the relationship of poor housing conditions with incidence and mortality of COVID-19 is unknown, we investigated the association between poor housing condition and COVID-19 incidence and mortality in US counties. We conducted cross-sectional analysis of county-level data from the US Centers for Disease Control, US Census Bureau and John Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center for 3135 US counties. The exposure of interest was percentage of households with poor housing conditions (one or greater of: overcrowding, high housing cost, incomplete kitchen facilities, or incomplete plumbing facilities). Outcomes were incidence rate ratios (IRR) and mortality rate ratios (MRR) of COVID-19 across US counties through 4/21/2020. Multilevel generalized linear modeling (with total population of each county as a denominator) was utilized to estimate relative risk of incidence and mortality related to poor housing conditions with adjustment for population density and county characteristics including demographics, income, education, prevalence of medical comorbidities, access to healthcare insurance and emergency rooms, and state-level COVID-19 test density. We report incidence rate ratios (IRRs) and mortality ratios (MRRs) for a 5% increase in prevalence in households with poor housing conditions. Across 3135 US counties, the mean percentage of households with poor housing conditions was 14.2% (range 2.7% to 60.2%). On April 21st, the mean (SD) number of cases and deaths of COVID-19 were 255.68 (2877.03) cases and 13.90 (272.22) deaths per county, respectively. In the adjusted models standardized by county population, with each 5% increase in percent households with poor housing conditions, there was a 50% higher risk of COVID-19 incidence (IRR 1.50, 95% CI: 1.38-1.62) and a 42% higher risk of COVID-19 mortality (MRR 1.42, 95% CI: 1.25-1.61). Results remained similar using earlier timepoints (3/31/2020 and 4/10/2020). Counties with a higher percentage of households with poor housing had higher incidence of, and mortality associated with, COVID-19. These findings suggest targeted health policies to support individuals living in poor housing conditions should be considered in further efforts to mitigate adverse outcomes associated with COVID-19.

Despite the significant amount of time that children spend in the home, relatively little attention has been paid to the direct impact of housing conditions on children's development. A literature review of over 100 research studies was undertaken to examine evidence of a ‘housing effect’ on children's health, learning, safety and behaviour. The results found strong evidence of a relationship between poor housing conditions and children's health and some evidence that growing up in sub‐standard housing affects children's performance at school. While children's safety is clearly linked to the quality of their home environment, further research is necessary to understand the apparent link between poor housing conditions and children's behavioural problems. The review suggests that growing up in poor housing has a profound and long‐term effect on children's life chances and that public policy should play closer attention to this relationship. Nevertheless, the volume of high‐quality research in this area is surprisingly limited and there is a need for more comprehensive studies.

The effects of poor housing conditions on depressive symptoms in persons with disabilities: Do residence type and neighborhood resources matter?

Introduction: Poverty imposes an oppressive weight on India, especially in the rural areas where almost three out of four Indians and 77 percent of the Indian are under poor living conditions. Although poverty has been reduced during the past four decades, it remains painfully high. Provision of adequate housing and amenities are major challenges for human development, particularly among lowincome urban households in developing countries. Often this shortfall is evident from the proliferation of slums and squatters. Objectives: 1. To assess the housing conditions of the semi urban area (Field practice area of KS Hegde Medical Academy).2. To associate these housing conditions with Education and Socio Economic Status. Methodology: Forty houses included under GRAMA KSHEMA project (Field practice area of K S Hegde Medical Academy) were selected. A pilot study with questionnaire to asses housing condition was done. Subjects were interviewed for their education and socioeconomic status. Results: 100% of Graduates, post graduates and Professionals have excellent housing conditions. Poor housing conditions was seen as the level of education decreased to high school and post high school. Housing conditions were excellent as the socioeconomic class increased. 66.6% of Class I population has excellent housing conditions. 63% of Class II population has good housing conditions and 38.5% of Class IV population has poor housing conditions. Conclusions: It was found that majority of the population had good housing conditions. Education and Socio economic status has an impact on Housing condition.

The increasing population growth has led to the bourgeoning of dual morphology (dilapidated inner cities and a lateral mushrooming of peripheral areas) in developing countries’ cities. The existing literature has discussed the various impacts of overstressed facilities and the socio-economic and environmental challenges in urban areas. However, opportunities to achieve economic, physical, social and development goals through housing-related strategies and initiatives have been overlooked. This article examines the characteristics and relationships that exist between housing and environmental conditions in the core area of Ogbomoso, Oyo State, Nigeria. Data is collected through a questionnaire survey of 1,510 participants. The results of this study indicate significant differences in the quality of housing conditions across the inner-city area. The variables that have higher coefficients about ‘poor housing conditions’ are household size, education status, migration status and length of residency. The variables that have higher coefficients to ‘good housing conditions’ are car ownership, marital status, home ownership and willingness to relocate residence. The study recommends participatory regeneration of the core area of the city to rejuvenate existing socio-economic and physical development.

Health and living conditions of Palestinian refugees residing in camps and gatherings in Lebanon: a cross-sectional survey

Background : Poor Housing condition, sanitation and hygiene is associated with adverse health conditions. This study is done to assess the housing conditions, sanitation coverage and hygiene practices among rural community in Bhaudaha VDC, eastern Nepal.Material &amp;Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted from 22nd May 2016 to 22nd November 2016 in Bhaudaha VDC of eastern Nepal with appropriated sample size of 525 participants. A direct interview was taken with structured questionnaire. Chi square test was used to find out association of the variables.Results: Out of 525 respondents, adequate ventilation was present among 54.9% literates followed by 44.2% illiterates (p=0.01) and separate kitchen was also found among 77.2% of literates and 64.6% of illiterates (p=0.002). Among Dalit castes 74.4% had separate kitchen in their house followed by 50.7% janajatis (p&lt;0.001). Covering of stored water was found in 75.8% Dalit and 61.2% Janajati (P=0.003). Improved sanitation was highest among other terai casts (78.1%) followed by Dalits (59.9%) and 58.2% Janajati (p=0.132).Conclusion: There is need of appropriate methods of health education to be focused on all the groups in the community for improvement in sanitation and healthy housing conditions and targeted more towards Janajati and illiterate group and further studies need to be done in different region of Nepal to understand the cause of disparities in housing and sanitation conditions among different groups.Journal of Nobel Medical CollegeVolume 6, Number 2, Issue 11 (July-December, 2017) Page: 1-8

A moderate inflammation caused by the deterioration of housing conditions modifies Trp metabolism but not Trp requirement for growth of post-weaned piglets