THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN SELF-REPORTED SYMPTOMS OF ASTHMA AND ALLERGICRHINITIS AND SELF-REPORTED TRAFFIC DENSITY ON STREET OF RESIDENCE IN ADOLESCENTS

We examined the association between self-reported symptoms of asthma a nd allergic rhinitis and self-reported exposure to motor vehicle traff ic in adolescents in Munster, Germany. A total of 3,703 German student s age 12-15 years completed a written and video questionnaire in 1994- 1995. We found positive associations between both wheezing and symptom s of allergic rhinitis during the past 12 months and self-reported fre quency of truck traffic. The sex- and age-adjusted prevalence odds rat ios and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for truck traffic, contrasting t he categories ''frequent'' and ''constant'' against ''never,'' were, f or wheezing obtained by written questionnaire: 1.53 (95% CI = 1.15-2.0 5) and 2.15 (95% CI = 1.44-3.21); for wheezing obtained by video quest ionnaire: 1.61 (95% CI = 1.26-2.07) and 2.47 (95% CI = 1.74-3.52); and for symptoms of allergic rhinitis: 1.71 (95% CI = 1.36-2.15) and 1.96 (95% CI = 1.40-2.76), respectively. We found a similar positive assoc iation with self-reports on traffic noise. Putative confounding variab les, including indicators of socioeconomic status, smoking, etc, did n ot alter these associations substantially. The results correspond clos ely with findings of a survey carried out in 1991 in Bochum, Germany. Our results support the hypothesis that exposure to motor vehicle traf fic is related to symptoms of asthma and allergic rhinitis in children , but we cannot rule out misclassification due to self-reports of traf fic exposure.