Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; African Union Scientific Technical and Research Commission, Abuja, Nigeria; Tamale Teaching Hospital, Research Department, Tamale, Ghana.
Department of Research Methodology and Data Analysis, Institute for Environmental Research (IER), Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Sci Total Environ. 2021 Feb 10;755(Pt 1):142501. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.142501. Epub 2020 Sep 25.
Little evidence exists about the association between fuel type use and risk of respiratory symptoms among infants; we aimed to evaluate this hypothesis through a cohort study in the Northern Region of Ghana. The study was carried out from April 2018 to May 2019. We recruited 28 weeks old pregnant women at selected hospitals and prospectively followed them at birth in the hospital ward to register their newborns and at homes when the baby had attained 3 to 7 months to collect data on respiratory symptoms of infants. A logistic regression model was used to investigate the odds of respiratory symptoms in infants. Exactly 1270 infants completed the study; the average age of women was 27.1 years and standard deviation of 5.1. The study found that infants of mothers who cooked with charcoal and those with firewood had increased odds of having cough with cold 4.10 (95% CI, 2.21-7.61) and 3.95 (95% CI, 2.06-7.58), increased odds of congestion, phlegm with cold by 3.89 (95% CI, 1.73-8.79) and 3.45 (95% CI, 1.44-8.26), increased odds of wheezing 4-14 days or nights by 1.68 (95% CI, 0.72-3.91) and 3.37 (95% CI, 1.41-8.04) and increased odds of seeking medical treatments in a health facility for chest illness by 3.97 (95% CI, 1.31-12.02) and 6.67 (95% CI, 2.14-20.77) in comparison with liquid petroleum gas respectively. Some significant predictors of respiratory infections were maternal malaria, hospitalisations of an infant after birth, residence, cooking location, composite breastfeeding, sharing of a bedroom with infant and air-conditioner or fan in the living room. Our findings indicate increased odds of infant respiratory symptoms in households using solid fuel in Ghana. Although our observational design precludes ascribing any causal relationships, our results are consistent with other studies suggesting clean fuel use during pregnancy and infancy may benefit this vulnerable age group.
在婴儿中，燃料类型的使用与呼吸症状之间的关联证据很少；我们旨在通过加纳北部地区的一项队列研究来评估这一假设。该研究于 2018 年 4 月至 2019 年 5 月进行。我们在选定的医院招募了 28 周大的孕妇，并在医院病房中对她们进行前瞻性随访，以登记新生儿，并在婴儿 3 至 7 个月大时在家庭中收集婴儿呼吸症状的数据。使用逻辑回归模型来研究婴儿呼吸症状的可能性。共有 1270 名婴儿完成了研究；女性的平均年龄为 27.1 岁，标准差为 5.1。研究发现，使用木炭和薪柴做饭的母亲的婴儿患咳嗽伴感冒的几率增加了 4.10（95%CI，2.21-7.61）和 3.95（95%CI，2.06-7.58），出现鼻塞、咳嗽有痰的几率增加了 3.89（95%CI，1.73-8.79）和 3.45（95%CI，1.44-8.26），4-14 天或夜间出现喘息的几率增加了 1.68（95%CI，0.72-3.91）和 3.37（95%CI，1.41-8.04），因胸部疾病到医疗机构就诊的几率增加了 3.97（95%CI，1.31-12.02）和 6.67（95%CI，2.14-20.77），分别与液化石油气相比。婴儿呼吸感染的一些重要预测因素包括产妇疟疾、婴儿出生后的住院、住所、烹饪地点、综合母乳喂养、与婴儿共享卧室以及客厅中的空调或风扇。我们的研究结果表明，在加纳，使用固体燃料的家庭中婴儿患呼吸症状的几率增加。尽管我们的观察性设计排除了任何因果关系，但我们的结果与其他研究一致，表明怀孕期间和婴儿期使用清洁燃料可能使这一年龄组受益。
