Indoor Dampness and Molds and Development of Adult-Onset Asthma: A Population-Based Incident Case-Control Study

Previous cross-sectional and prevalent case-control studies have suggested increased risk of asthma in adults related to dampness problems and molds in homes. We conducted a population-based incident case-control study to assess the effects of indoor dampness problems and molds at work and at home o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental health perspectives 2002-05, Vol.110 (5), p.543-547
Main Authors: Jaakkola, Maritta S., Nordman, Henrik, Piipari, Ritva, Uitti, Jukka, Laitinen, Jukka, Karjalainen, Antti, Hahtola, Paula, Jouni J. K. Jaakkola
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Age of Onset
Air Pollution, Indoor - adverse effects
Asthma
Asthma - etiology
Asthma - microbiology
Case control studies
Environmental Exposure
Female
Flood damage
Fungi
Housing
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Moisture content
Odors
Peak expiratory flow rate
Secondhand smoke
Social insurance
Tobacco smoking
Water
Workplace
Workplaces
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Summary:Previous cross-sectional and prevalent case-control studies have suggested increased risk of asthma in adults related to dampness problems and molds in homes. We conducted a population-based incident case-control study to assess the effects of indoor dampness problems and molds at work and at home on development of asthma in adults. We recruited systematically all new cases of asthma during a 2.5-year study period (1997-2000) and randomly selected controls from a source population consisting of adults 21-63 years old living in the Pirkanmaa Hospital district, South Finland. The clinically diagnosed case series consisted of 521 adults with newly diagnosed asthma and the control series of 932 controls, after we excluded 76 (7.5%) controls with a history of asthma. In logistic regression analysis adjusting for confounders, the risk of asthma was related to the presence of visible mold and/or mold odor in the workplace (odds ratio, 1.54; 95% confidence interval, 1.01-2.32) but not to water damage or damp stains alone. We estimated the fraction of asthma attributable to workplace mold exposure to be 35.1% (95% confidence interval, 1.0-56.9%) among the exposed. Present results provide new evidence of the relation between workplace exposure to indoor molds and adult-onset asthma.
ISSN:0091-6765
1552-9924
DOI:10.1289/ehp.02110543