Climate, Traffic-Related Air Pollutants, and Asthma Prevalence in Middle-School Children in Taiwan

• Published in: Environmental health perspectives 1999-12, Vol.107 (12), p.1001-1006
• Main Authors: Guo, Yueliang Leon, Ying-Chu Lin, Sung, Fung-Chang, Huang, Song-Lih, Ko, Ying-Chin, Jim-Shoung Lai, Huey-Jen Su, Cheng-Kuang Shaw, Ruey-Shiung Lin, Dockery, Douglas W.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Air pollutants; Air Pollution; Asthma; Asthma - epidemiology; Children; Children's Health; Climate; Environmental health; Female; Health Surveys; Humans; Humidity; Male; Prevalence; Questionnaires; Relative humidity; Schools; Seasons; Sex Distribution; Smoke; Taiwan; Vehicle Emissions; Wheezing
• ISSN: 0091-6765; 1552-9924
• DOI: 10.1289/ehp.991071001

This study compared the prevalence of asthma with climate and air pollutant data to determine the relationship between asthma prevalence and these factors. We conducted a nationwide survey of respiratory illness and symptoms in middle-school students in Taiwan. Lifetime prevalences of physician-diagnosed asthma and of typical symptoms of asthma were compared to air monitoring station data for temperature, relative humidity, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, ozone, carbon monoxide, and particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter$\leq 10 \mum (PM_{10})$. A total of 331,686 nonsmoking children attended schools located within 2 km of 55 stations. Asthma prevalence rates adjusted for age, history of atopic eczema, and parental education were associated with nonsummer (June-August) temperature, winter (January-March) humidity, and traffic-related air pollution, especially carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides, for both girls and boys. Nonsummer temperature, winter humidity, and traffic-related air pollution, especially carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides, were positively associated with the prevalence of asthma in middle-school students in Taiwan.