Association of building characteristics, residential heating and ventilation with asthmatic symptoms of preschool children in Shanghai: A cross-sectional study

A China, Children, Homes, Health (CCHH) study was conducted in Shanghai to investigate the associations between residential characteristics and childhood asthma, wheeze and dry cough of 4- to 6-year-old children. In the present study, 13,335 children participated in the questionnaire survey, and the questionnaires were completed by children's parents with a response rate of 85.3%. Multiple logistic regression analysis was the main method for analyses. Using wood as fuel for cooking was shown to have a strong positive association with asthma (adjusted odds ratio, 95% confidence interval: 2.84, 1.24-6.54). Existence of a highway within 200 m of the residence could have a positive association with wheeze ever (1.20, 1.02-1.41) and dry cough (1.22, 1.02-1.40). Children having suffered wheeze symptom ever was negatively associated with the use of fume exhaust ventilator in the kitchen (0.85, 0.73-0.99) and exhaust fan in the bathroom (0.86, 0.78-0.95) but positively associated with the use of home air purifier (1.22, 1.05-1.41). The results indicated that the residential characteristics such as surrounding environment and household equipments could have notable association with children's health in Shanghai. Using clean fuel for home cooking, living far away from a highway or increasing home ventilation could possibly reduce the children's risk of suffering asthmatic symptoms.