Department of Disease Control and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.
Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, Hamburg, Germany.
PLoS One. 2023 Aug 17;18(8):e0290170. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0290170. eCollection 2023.
Indoor air pollutants (IAP) and household conditions such as dampness, crowding and chemical exposures have been associated with acute and chronic respiratory infections. In Uganda, literature on the effects of IAP on respiratory outcomes in informal settlements is limited.
We describe the baseline household characteristics of 284 adults and their children in an informal settlement in Uganda from April to May 2022. We monitored same-day indoor concentrations of particulate matter PM2.5, PM10, Carbon monoxide (CO), relative humidity %, and temperature from 9 am to 2 pm and interviewed caregivers/mothers about their respiratory symptoms and those of their children in the previous 30 days. We employed robust Poisson regressions to evaluate the associations between indoor air indicators and respiratory health symptoms.
Approximately 94.7% of households primarily used biomass fuels and 32.7% cooked from inside their dwelling rooms. The median PM2.5, PM10 and CO levels were 49.5 (Interquartile range (IQR) = 31.1,86.2) μg/m3, 73.6 (IQR = 47.3,130.5) μg/m3 and 7.70 (IQR = 4.1,12.5) ppm respectively. Among adults, a 10 unit increase in PM2.5 was associated with cough (Prevalence Ratio (PR) = 3.75, 95%CI 1.15-1.55). Dwelling unit dampness was associated with phlegm (PR = 2.53, 95%CI = 1.39-4.61) and shortness of breath (PR = 1.78, 95% CI 1.23-2.54) while cooking from outside the house was protective against shortness of breath (PR = 0.62, 95% CI = 0.44-0.87). In children, dampness was associated with phlegm (PR = 13.87, 95% CI 3.16-60.91) and cough (PR = 1.62, 95% CI 1.12-2.34) while indoor residual spraying was associated with phlegm (PR = 3.36, 95%CI 1.71-6.61).
Poor indoor air conditions were associated with respiratory symptoms in adults and children. Efforts to address indoor air pollution should be made to protect adults and children from adverse health effects.
室内空气污染物（IAP）和潮湿、拥挤以及化学暴露等家庭条件与急性和慢性呼吸道感染有关。在乌干达，关于 IAP 对非正规住区呼吸结果影响的文献有限。
我们描述了 2022 年 4 月至 5 月期间乌干达一个非正规住区 284 名成年人及其子女的基本家庭特征。我们从上午 9 点到下午 2 点监测了室内颗粒物 PM2.5、PM10、一氧化碳（CO）、相对湿度%和温度的即时浓度，并采访了照顾者/母亲，了解她们在过去 30 天内的呼吸症状和子女的呼吸症状。我们采用稳健泊松回归来评估室内空气指标与呼吸健康症状之间的关联。
约 94.7%的家庭主要使用生物质燃料，32.7%的家庭在居住室内做饭。PM2.5、PM10 和 CO 的中位数水平分别为 49.5（四分位距（IQR）= 31.1，86.2）μg/m3、73.6（IQR = 47.3，130.5）μg/m3 和 7.70（IQR = 4.1，12.5）ppm。在成年人中，PM2.5 增加 10 个单位与咳嗽有关（患病率比（PR）= 3.75，95%CI 1.15-1.55）。住区潮湿与咳痰（PR = 2.53，95%CI = 1.39-4.61）和呼吸急促（PR = 1.78，95%CI 1.23-2.54）有关，而在室外做饭则可预防呼吸急促（PR = 0.62，95%CI = 0.44-0.87）。在儿童中，潮湿与咳痰（PR = 13.87，95%CI 3.16-60.91）和咳嗽（PR = 1.62，95%CI 1.12-2.34）有关，而室内滞留喷洒与咳痰有关（PR = 3.36，95%CI 1.71-6.61）。
较差的室内空气质量与成年人和儿童的呼吸症状有关。应努力解决室内空气污染问题，以保护成年人和儿童免受不良健康影响。
