Residential environmental risk factors for childhood asthma prevalence in metropolitan and semirural cities in Korea

To identify the association between residential environmental risk factors and the prevalence of childhood asthma, the authors surveyed the prevalence of asthma, the residential environmental risk factors of 1819 elementary school students, and air pollution in metropolitan (Seongbuk), and semirural (Andong) areas. Although there was no significant difference in the prevalence of self-reported asthma (SA) between the 2 geographic areas (12.8% vs 13.6%), the prevalence of physician-diagnosed asthma (PDA) in Andong (15.0%) was significantly higher than that in Seongbuk (6.8%). After adjusting for confounding factors, logistic regression suggested that there were significant differences in size of the house (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.82), medical insurance (aOR = 2.59), and number of residents in the household (aOR = 1.54) between the SA and non-SA groups. There was a significant difference in the area of residence (aOR = 2.12) between the PDA and non-PDA groups. In conclusion, residential environmental risk factors and the area of residence affect the prevalence of childhood asthma.