Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama 35294, USA.
Environ Health Perspect. 2010 Mar;118(3):313-7. doi: 10.1289/ehp.0901143. Epub 2009 Nov 6.
Despite multiple published studies regarding the association between formaldehyde exposure and childhood asthma, a consistent association has not been identified. Here we report the results of a systematic review of published literature in order to provide a more comprehensive picture of this relationship.
After a comprehensive literature search, we identified seven peer-reviewed studies providing quantitative results regarding the association between formaldehyde exposure and asthma in children. Studies were heterogeneous with respect to the definition of asthma (e.g., self-report, physician diagnosis). Most of the studies were cross-sectional.
For each study, an odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for asthma were either abstracted from published results or calculated based on the data provided. Characteristics regarding the study design and population were also abstracted.
We used fixed- and random-effects models to calculate pooled ORs and 95% CIs; measures of heterogeneity were also calculated. A fixed-effects model produced an OR of 1.03 (95% CI, 1.021.04), and random effects model produced an OR of 1.17 (95% CI, 1.011.36), both reflecting an increase of 10 microg/m3 of formaldehyde. Both the Q and I2 statistics indicated a moderate amount of heterogeneity.
Results indicate a significant positive association between formaldehyde exposure and childhood asthma. Given the largely cross-sectional nature of the studies underlying this meta-analysis, further well-designed prospective epidemiologic studies are needed.
尽管有多项关于甲醛暴露与儿童哮喘之间关联的已发表研究，但尚未确定一致的关联。在这里，我们报告了对已发表文献进行系统评价的结果，以便更全面地了解这种关系。
经过全面的文献搜索，我们确定了七项同行评审的研究，这些研究提供了关于甲醛暴露与儿童哮喘之间关联的定量结果。这些研究在哮喘的定义（例如自我报告、医生诊断）方面存在异质性。大多数研究都是横断面研究。
对于每项研究，我们从已发表的结果中提取了哮喘的比值比（OR）和 95%置信区间（CI），或者根据提供的数据计算了 OR 和 95%CI。还提取了有关研究设计和人群的特征。
我们使用固定效应和随机效应模型计算了汇总的 OR 和 95%CI；还计算了衡量异质性的指标。固定效应模型得出的 OR 为 1.03（95%CI，1.021.04），随机效应模型得出的 OR 为 1.17（95%CI，1.011.36），两者均反映甲醛增加 10μg/m3。Q 和 I2 统计均表明存在中度异质性。
结果表明甲醛暴露与儿童哮喘之间存在显著的正相关关系。鉴于这项荟萃分析所依据的研究主要是横断面研究，因此需要进一步进行设计良好的前瞻性流行病学研究。
