Home renovation, family history of atopy, and respiratory symptoms and asthma among children living in China.

OBJECTIVES:To investigate the association of indoor air pollution with the respiratory health of children, we evaluated the associations of children's respiratory symptoms with asthma and recent home renovation. METHODS:We conducted a cross-sectional survey in a school recruitment sample of 31,049 children aged 2 to 14 years in 25 districts of 7 cities of northeast China in 2008-2009. The children's parents completed standardized questionnaires characterizing the children's histories of respiratory symptoms and illness, recent home renovation information, and other associated risk factors. RESULTS:The effects of home renovation in the past 2 years were significantly associated with cough, phlegm, current wheeze, doctor-diagnosed asthma, and current asthma. The associations we computed when combining the status of home renovation and family history of atopy were higher than were those predicted from the combination of the separate effects. However, the interactions between home renovation and family history of atopy on a multiplicative scale were not statistically significant (P>.05). CONCLUSIONS:Home renovation is associated with increases in the prevalence of respiratory symptoms and asthma in children. The effects of different renovation materials on child respiratory health should be studied further.