Relationships Between Home Environment In Chongqing And Pneumoniain Preschool Children

Pneumonia, which is a severe lower respiratory disease, is the leading single causeof mortality in children aged less than5years.Every year, numbers of children weredied because of pneumonia. Indoor environmental quality has significant influences onchildren’s respiratory health. Preschool children spend more time indoor, so it isassumed that indoor environmental quality may have great effects on children’spneumonia too. To investigate the relationships between indoor environment inresidences and children’s health, a cross-sectional study and an indoor test investigationwere done.Risks of childhood pneumonia under different indoor environmentalconditions were analyzed. Indoor environmental factors that have significant influenceson childhood pneumonia were explored, so that suggestions for the protection ofchildren’s health could be made for parents.Four thousand seven hundred and sixty seven children aged from3to6years wereincluded in the analysis of the cross-sectional study. Result shows that childrenever hadwheezing, croup, rhinitis, eczema, ever had been diagnosed with asthma, ever had beendiagnosed with rhinitis, had a cough last usually for more than two weeks were found tohave higher risk to get pneumonia. Results from analysis of the relationships betweenindoor environmental factors and childhood pneumonia showed that gas cooking, dampstains, near main road or highway, feeling cold in residence in winter, redecoration,father smoking, laminated floor, buy new furniture during pregnancy, emulsion paintwall, multifamily houseetc. were significant risk factors that may increase the risk ofchildhood pneumonia. Clean every day, often put bed to sunshine, lime wall,cementwall, cement floor, electricity cooking were protective factors that may decrease the riskof childhood pneumonia. Among all the environmental factors that have significanteffects on childhood pneumonia, gas cooking, cement wall, indoor mosquitoes/flies,near main road or highway and multifamily house were the most important. Dividingindoor environment into four levels based on numbers of home risk factors reported,analysis showed that the risk of childhood pneumonia increased with the decrease ofquality of indoor environment.To analyze and verify the relationships between indoor environmental factors andchildhood pneumonia in the cross-sectional study, indoor test investigationsand articlereviews were done. Information on indoor concentrations of formaldehyde, TVOC, CO, O3, NO2and indoor environmental factors from20residences were collected. Resultsshowed that indoor CO mass concentrations in residences located near main road orhigh way were significantly higher than those located in residential zone. Indoor NO2,TVOC, formaldehyde and CO mass concentrations in residences almost never beenventilated were significantly higher than those often ventilated. Indoor COconcentrations were significantly increased during gas cooking. Therefore, it issuggested that the residence were better to be located far from main road or high way,and measurements need to be done to reduce children’s exposure to high concentrationsof indoor pollutants during cooking.It is also better to ventilate residences more often toimprove indoor air quality.