153605 Traffic air pollution associated with childhood asthma in Taipei, Taiwan

Tuesday, November 6, 2007: 8:50 AM

Yi-Ling Huang , Institute of environmental health, College of public health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
Nai-Tzu Chen , Institute of environmental health, College of public health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
Yu-Ning Tuan Mu , Institute of environmental health, College of public health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
Quei-wen Cheng , Institute of environmental health, College of public health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
Yee-Chung Ma , Institute of environmental health, College of public health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
Jia-Ming Lin , Institute of environmental health, College of public health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
Mei-Lien Chen , Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Yang Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan
Ching-Wen Chang , Institute of environmental health, College of public health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
Chun-Yu Chuang , Department of Biomedical Engineering and Environmental Sciences, National Tsing-Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
F.C. Sung , Institute of Environmental Health, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan
     
The occurrence of childhood asthma has been associated with air pollution in studies. However, it remains unclear as of the specific air components associated with the disease among children. We conducted a study in Taipei attempting to identify air pollution markers that may have association with the disease. Based on the daily traffic density, this subproject divided Taipei metropolitan into 3 areas: high, moderate and low density areas. From each area, 3 primary schools were randomly selected for a questionnaire screening survey to identify students with the complaint of asthma. The parents of 4952 students from 7 Schools responded to this study. Among the students responded to the study, 17.7% (432/2440) boys and 11.5% (289/2512) girls had been diagnosed with asthma. Students at schools in moderate traffic areas were most prevalent with asthma (16.5%) and students at schools in low traffic areas the least (13.4%). The prevalence increased from 11.8% among students living in areas with the least air pollution to 25.0% in areas with the highest pollution; the corresponding odds ratio increased from 1.33, (95% CI =1.04~1.70) to 2.13, (95% CI =1.17~3.89). We also found that maternal smoking during pregnancy was strongly associated with an increased risk of asthma (smoking over 20 cigarettes per day, OR=7.49, 95% CI=1.51-37.2). In conclusion, this study has demonstrated that the asthma prevalence among school children may be associated with the traffic pollution. Key words: air pollution, childhood asthma, primary school students, traffic density, Taiwan

Learning Objectives:
1. Traffic density as a air pollution indicator 2. Childhood asthma was investigated by ISAAC standard questionnaires.

Keywords: Asthma, Air Pollutants

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No
Any institutionally-contracted trials related to this submission?

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

See more of: Environmental Epidemiology
See more of: Epidemiology