Sebastian Bonner, PhD¹, Thomas Matte, MD, MPH², Joanne Fagan, PhD¹, Tinka Markham Piper, MPH, CSW³, Evie Andreopoulos¹, and David Evans, PhD⁴. (1) Center for Urban Epidemiologic Studies, New York Academy of Medicine, 1216 Fifth Avenue, Fifth floor, New York, NY 10029, 212-822-7281, sbonner@nyam.org, (2) Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, 2 Lafayette St., 20th Fl., New York, NY 10007, (3) Program Manager, Center for Urban Studies, New York Academy of Medicine, 1216 Fifth Avenue, Fifth Floor, New York, NY 10029, (4) Joseph L. Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, Room CHS-745, Pediatric Pulmonary Division, 630 West 168th Street, New York, NY 10032

High asthma prevalence and morbidity have been reported in samples of children enrolled in subsidized preschools. Some data suggest that environmental factors that may worsen asthma are common in the homes of children in subsidized preschools. We assessed the frequency of self-reported home environmental conditions that could contribute to worsening asthma and the relationship between these environmental factors and asthma morbidity in subsidized preschools in East and Central Harlem during 1999-2000. Preschool staff administered a validated 15-item Brief Respiratory Questionnaire (BRQ) identifying children as having current or probable asthma based on physician’s diagnosis, recurrent symptoms, history of hospitalization, and medication use. More extensive interviews were completed for parents/guardians of 149 children with probable asthma. Prevalence of self-reported home environmental conditions that could impact asthma morbidity (e.g., exposure to cockroaches, rodents, cat, second hand smoke) ranged from 17% to 93%. At least 1 home environment condition was reported for all children with probable asthma. Moisture or mildew was reported present in the homes of 27 children (18%). We found an association between moisture or mildew and 3 measures of asthma morbidity. Rank sums analyses revealed that children with probable asthma living in homes with moisture or mildew had significantly more hospitalizations for respiratory conditions (p <.05), episodes of wheezing without a cold during the past 12 months (p <.01), and significantly more nights with asthma symptoms in the past 2 weeks (p <.01). Self-reported moisture or mildew is consistently associated with more asthma symptoms and morbidity in this population.

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