INDOOR AIR-POLLUTION AND ASTHMA - RESULTS FROM A PANEL STUDY

Although there is abundant clinical evidence of asthmatic responses to indoor aeroallergens, the symptomatic impacts of other common indoor air pollutants from gas stoves, fireplaces, and environmental tobacco smoke have been less well characterized. These combustion sources prod uce a complex mixture of pollutants, many of which are respiratory irr itants. We report here results of an analysis of associations between indoor pollution and several outcomes of respiratory morbidity in a po pulation of adult asthmatics residing in the Denver, Colorado, metropo litan area. A panel of 164 asthmatics recorded in a daily diary the oc currence of several respiratory symptoms, nocturnal asthma, medication use, and restrictions in activity, as well as the use of gas stoves, wood stoves, or fireplaces, and exposure to environmental tobacco smok e. Multiple logistic regression analysis suggests that the indoor sour ces of combustion have a statistically significant association with ex acerbations of asthma. For example, after correcting for repeated meas ures and autocorrelation, the reported use of a gas stove was associat ed with moderate or worse shortness of breath (OR, 1.60; 95% CI, 1.11- 2.32), moderate or worse cough (OR, 1.71; 95% CI, 0.97-3.01), nocturna l asthma (OR, 1.01; 95% CI, 0.91-1.13), and restrictions in activity ( OR, 1.47; 95% CI, 1.0-2.16). Among this panel of relatively moderate t o severe asthmatics, the respiratory irritants produced by several dom estic combustion sources were associated with increased morbidity.