Uncontrolled asthma and household environmental exposures in Puerto Rico

Abstract

Objective To describe asthma control and household environmental exposures among adults and children with asthma in Puerto Rico. Methods A cross-sectional analysis was conducted using data from the 2014–2016 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Asthma Call-back Survey on 931 adults and 177 children with current asthma in Puerto Rico. These data were analyzed to assess the prevalence of uncontrolled asthma in Puerto Rico and potential associations with household environmental exposure to cockroaches, smoke, and mold. Asthma control was classified using daytime and nighttime symptoms, activity limitation, and short-acting beta agonist use. Prevalence and prevalence ratios were calculated, adjusting for sample weighting. Results An estimated 53% of adults with asthma and 29% of children with asthma in Puerto Rico have uncontrolled asthma. Among adults with asthma, in the past 30 days, 29% had seen or smelled mold and 50% had seen cockroaches; in the past week, 12% reported having someone smoke in their home. Adults with uncontrolled asthma were 1.4 times more likely to have observed mold in their homes than were those with controlled asthma when adjusting for age, sex, education, and income (prevalence ratio [95% confidence interval]: 1.4 [1.1, 1.8]). Children with uncontrolled asthma were also more likely to have mold observed in their home than were children with controlled asthma (adjusted PR [95% CI]: 3.0 [1.3, 7.1]). Conclusions Uncontrolled asthma is common among adults and children with asthma in Puerto Rico. These results suggest potential differences in household mold exposure by asthma control status.