| Childhood Asthma and Environmental Interventions Felicia Wu1 and Tim K. Takaro2 1Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; 2Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada Abstract
Background: Contaminants encountered in many households, such as environmental tobacco smoke, house dust mite, cockroach, cat and dog dander, and mold, are risk factors in asthma. Young children are a particularly vulnerable subpopulation for environmentally mediated asthma, and the economic burden associated with this disease is substantial. Certain mechanical interventions are effective both in reducing allergen loads in the home and in improving asthmatic children's respiratory health. Results: Combinations of interventions including the use of dust mite-impermeable bedding covers, improved cleaning practices, high-efficiency particulate air vacuum cleaners, mechanical ventilation, and parental education are associated with both asthma trigger reduction and improved health outcomes for asthmatic children. Compared with valuated health benefits, these combinations of interventions have proven cost effective in studies that have employed them. Education alone has not proven effective in changing parental behaviors such as smoking in the home. Conclusions: Future research should focus on improving the effectiveness of education on home asthma triggers, and understanding long-term children's health effects of the interventions that have proven effective in reducing asthma triggers. Key words: childhood asthma, economic impacts, indoor air quality, indoor environments, public health interventions. Environ Health Perspect 115:971–975 (2007) . doi:10.1289/ehp.8989 available via http://dx.doi.org/ [Online 25 January 2007]
This article is part of the mini-monograph "Developing Policies to Improve Indoor Environmental Quality." Address correspondence to F. Wu, Environmental and Occupational Health, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, A732 Crabtree Hall, 130 DeSoto St., Pittsburgh, PA 15261 USA. Telephone: (412) 624-1306. Fax: (412) 624-3040. E-mail: few8@pitt.edu The authors declare they have no competing financial interests. Received 9 January 2006 ; accepted 13 July 2006.
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