Exposure to indoor mould and children's respiratory health in the PATY study

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Exposure to indoor mould and children's respiratory health in the

PATY study - Source: Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health,

Aug 2008

ProHealth's ImmuneSupport.com - Santa Barbara,CA*

by T Antova, et al.

ImmuneSupport.com

08-27-2008

http://www.immunesupport.com/library/showarticle.cfm/ID/9057

Background: Living in a damp or mouldy home reportedly damages

children's respiratory health, yet mould appears not to be a

prominent risk factor in the public's perception.

Analyses of data on over 58,000 children from the Pollution and the

Young (PATY) study are presented. In this collaboration, researchers

from 12 cross-sectional studies pooled their data to assess the

effects of air quality on a spectrum of children's respiratory

disorders.

Method: Original studies were conducted in Russia, North America and

10 countries in Eastern and Western Europe. Pooled analyses were

restricted to children aged 6-12 years. Associations between visible

mould reported in the household and a spectrum of eight respiratory

and allergic symptoms were estimated within each study. Logistic

regressions were used, controlling for individual risk factors and

for study area. Heterogeneity between study-specific results and

mean effects (allowing for heterogeneity) were estimated using meta-

analysis.

Results:

Visible mould was reported by 13.9% of respondents in Russia,

increasing to 39.1% in North America.

Positive associations between exposure to mould and children's

respiratory health were seen with considerable consistency across

studies and across outcomes.

Confounder-adjusted combined ORs [odds ratios] ranged from 1.30 (95%

CI 1.22 to 1.39) for " nocturnal cough " to 1.50 (1.31 to 1.73)

for " morning cough. " [Note: an OR (odds ratio) of 1.0 would mean no

difference in health between children exposed and not exposed to

mould. Accordingly, 1.30 signifies 30% greater risk of the

respiratory problem, and 1.50 would be 50% greater risk.]

Evidence of stronger effects in more crowded households was

statistically significant for only asthma and sensitivity to inhaled

allergens.

No consistent interactions between mould and age, sex or parental

smoking were found.

Conclusion: Indoor mould exposure was consistently associated with

adverse respiratory health outcomes in children living in these

diverse countries.

Source: Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, Aug 2008; (62

(8):708-14. PMID: 18621956, by Antova T, Pattenden S, Brunekreef B,

Heinrich J, Rudnai P, Forastiere F, Luttmann-Gibson H, Grize L,

Katsnelson B, Moshammer H, Nikiforov B, Slachtova H, Slotova K,

Zlotkowska R, Fletcher T. Environmental Health Unit, NCPHP, Sofia,

Bulgaria (and 11 other sites). [E-mail: Dr. S Pattenden, London

School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London

sam.pattenden@...]