Asthma, allergic rhinitis and atopic dermatitis in association with home environment - The RHINE study

Juan Wang; Christer Janson; Andrei Malinovschi; Mathias Holm; Karl A Franklin; Lars Modig; Ane Johannessen; Vivi Schlünssen; Thorarinn Gislason; Nils Oskar Jogi; Dan Norbäck

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.158609

Asthma, allergic rhinitis and atopic dermatitis in association with home environment - The RHINE study

Sci Total Environ. 2022 Dec 20:853:158609. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.158609. Epub 2022 Sep 8.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medical Sciences, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden. Electronic address: juan.wang@medsci.uu.se.
² Department of Medical Sciences, Respiratory, Allergy and Sleep Research, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
³ Department of Medical Sciences, Clinical Physiology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
⁴ Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Gothenburg University, Gothenburg, Sweden.
⁵ Department of Surgical and Preoperative Sciences, Surgery, Umeå University, SE-901 85 Umeå, Sweden.
⁶ Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Sustainable Health, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.
⁷ Centre for International Health, Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
⁸ Department of Public Health, Environment, Occupation and Health, Danish Ramazzini Centre, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
⁹ Department of Sleep, Landspitali University Hospital, Reykjavik, Iceland; Faculty of Medicine, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland.
¹⁰ Department of Occupational Medicine, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway; Department of Clinical Science, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
¹¹ Department of Medical Sciences, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.

PMID: 36089044
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.158609

Abstract

We studied home environment exposures in relation to asthma, allergic rhinitis and atopic dermatitis among offspring of participants (parents) in the Respiratory Health in Northern Europe (RHINE) study (age ≤ 30 y). Totally 17,881 offspring from Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Estonia were included. Home environment exposures, including dampness and mold, type of dwelling, construction year and indoor painting were registered through a questionnaire answered by parents in the first follow up (RHINE II). The parents reported ten years later with in the frame of RHINE III offspring's birth year and offspring's asthma, allergic rhinitis, atopic dermatitis. They also reported dampness and mold at home from RHINE II to RHINE III. The prevalence of offspring's asthma before 10 y, asthma after 10 y, allergic rhinitis at any age and atopic dermatitis at any age were 9.7 %, 4.3 %, 15.6 % and 17.3 %, respectively. Asthma before 10 y was related to any indoor painting at RHINE II (OR = 1.14, 95%CI (1.02, 1.29)). Asthma after 10 y was associated with dampness/mold at home (OR = 1.33-1.62) and living in the newest buildings (constructed in 1986-2001) (OR = 1.30, 95%CI (1.02, 1.66)). Allergic rhinitis was associated with living in newer buildings (constructed in 1961-2001) (OR = 1.16-1.24). Atopic dermatitis was associated with visible mold (OR = 1.35, 95%CI(1.12, 1.62)), dampness/mold at home (OR = 1.18-1.38), living in apartments (OR = 1.22, 95%CI(1.10, 1.35)) and living in newer buildings (constructed in 1961-2001) (OR = 1.14-1.25). There were dose-response effects of dampness and mold on offspring's asthma after 10 y and atopic dermatitis (20 years exposure vs. 10 years exposure). Older offspring had increased risk of developing asthma after 10 y and atopic dermatitis. In conclusion, home dampness and mold, living in apartments, living in newer buildings and indoor painting were associated with offspring's asthma or allergic diseases. Stronger health effects were found among offspring with prolonged exposure of dampness/mold.

Keywords: Allergic rhinitis; Asthma; Atopic dermatitis; Dampness; Home environment; Indoor painting.

MeSH terms

Asthma* / epidemiology
Asthma* / etiology
Dermatitis, Atopic* / epidemiology
Europe
Fungi
Home Environment
Humans
Humidity
Rhinitis, Allergic* / epidemiology
Rhinitis, Allergic* / etiology
Risk Factors