Home environment and asthma in school children from the Edirne region in Turkey.

Studies have shown that environmental factors contribute to the development of asthma. Hence, we investigated the relation between current asthma and indoor environmental factors such as exposure to pets, tobacco smoke, home dampness, number of people living in home, and stuffed toys in child's bedroom in a questionnaire based study in primary school children aged 6 to 12 years living in Edirne (Turkey). In a random sample of 4 primary schools, questionnaires were completed by parents of 1000 children. Following the evaluation of 682 of these, 85 were selected as cases of asthma of which 24 were diagnosed by a physician. When required certain laboratory tests were also performed in order to confirm the diagnosis. Logistic regression was used to investigate the associations between asthma and potential risk factors. In logistic regression analyses, the following factors were associated with asthma. Dampness in the house [(odd's ratio (O.R) = 2.61; 95% CI 1.13 to 6.81), stuffed toys in the child's bedroom (O.R = 2.18; 95% CI 1.27 to 3.74), and the crowding index (O.R = 2.73; 95% CI 1.08 to 6.82)]. In conclusion, it was found that presence of asthma was significantly associated with the presence of dampness in the house, and stuffed toys in the child's bedroom. Asthma can be prevented by improvement of the indoor environment. Therefore providing education to high-risk populations for avoidance of these risk factors is particularly important.