Investigation of association between indoor environmental factors and child allergic symptoms - Statistical analysis of influencing factors to child health problems through a questionnaire survey

In order to clarify the association between child allergic symptoms and indoor environmental factors, an epidemiological survey has been conducted to the 4th and 5th grade school pupils in Japan. This survey was divided into three phases. The first phase was a preliminary questionnaire of the prevalence of allergic diseases among 8,336 children. The second phase was a cross-sectional questionnaire on housing characteristics and child allergic symptoms among 1,846 children, and the final phase was a field measurement. This paper described mainly about results obtained from two questionnaire surveys. From the first phase, the prevalence of current allergic diseases was 49.9%. Asthma and rhinitis before now were 12.5% and 33.3% of children respectively. The second phase revealed asthma evaluated by ATS-DLD were associated with reported mold on wall surfaces (p<0.001) with multiple logistic regression analysis adjusting for potential confounding factors. The living near industrial area (p<0.001) and using a humidifier (p<0.05) were associated with respiratory symptoms. We conclude that school pupils who are living in dampness are at significant risk for respiratory symptoms.