LEPAE, Departamento de Engenharia Química, Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, R. Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465, Porto, Portugal.
Environ Int. 2011 Feb;37(2):474-8. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2010.11.014. Epub 2010 Dec 21.
The study here reported aimed to: i) evaluate the prevalence of childhood asthma at a Portuguese rural area with high ozone concentrations through lung function tests, validating the previously estimated one assessed through questionnaires (similar to those of the ISAAC); ii) compare the achieved prevalence with the one reported at an unexposed area (with low ozone concentrations), aiming to evaluate the influence of exposure to high ozone levels; and iii) determine potential risk factors. Ninety-five of the original 478 children that completed the questionnaires, mentioned to have at least one of asthma symptoms (wheeze, dyspnea or cough) and were therefore evaluated by spirometry. FEV(1) was in average 89.7% for asthmatics and 102.8% for non-asthmatics. For the studied sample the risk was higher for girls with a tendency to be higher from 8 to 10 years old. Lifetime prevalence of childhood asthma at the exposed area was 9.2%. Children living at the exposed area had 3 times higher risk of having asthma than those living at the unexposed area. Considering that ozone concentrations were the main difference between both areas, it can be suggested that ozone pollution increased asthma prevalence. Nevertheless, it should be remarked that further studies should be done to confirm these results.
i）通过肺功能测试评估葡萄牙农村高臭氧浓度地区儿童哮喘的患病率，验证先前通过问卷调查（类似于 ISAAC）评估的患病率；ii）将所获得的患病率与未暴露地区（臭氧浓度较低）的患病率进行比较，旨在评估暴露于高臭氧水平的影响；iii）确定潜在的危险因素。最初完成问卷的 478 名儿童中有 95 名被认为至少有哮喘症状（喘息、呼吸困难或咳嗽），因此通过肺活量计进行了评估。哮喘患者的 FEV1 平均为 89.7%，非哮喘患者为 102.8%。对于研究样本，女孩的风险更高，8 至 10 岁时风险有上升趋势。暴露地区儿童哮喘的终生患病率为 9.2%。暴露地区的儿童患哮喘的风险是未暴露地区儿童的 3 倍。考虑到臭氧浓度是两个地区的主要差异，可以认为臭氧污染增加了哮喘的患病率。然而，应该指出，应该进行进一步的研究来证实这些结果。
