TORONTO — Asthma symptoms improve in children whose homes are remodeled to reduce triggers such as dust mites, mold, mice, and cockroaches, Dr. Megan Sandel reported in a poster presentation at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies.
Families were randomly assigned to receive education plus an intervention (remodeling) or education only with the intervention delayed for 4 months. The data were collected before the second group received the intervention, explained Dr. Sandel of Boston University.
Among the 56 families with complete data representing 81 children with asthma, home remodeling resulted in better asthma outcomes, compared with education only. In total, 78% of homes required integrated pest control for mice and cockroaches, 40% required carpet removal to control dust mites, 36% required a bathroom fan to control mold, 12% required a high-efficiency particulate air filter, 10% required a kitchen fan, and 15% required a window fan.
Compared with homes in the education-only group, intervention homes showed lower mouse infestation scores (0.7 vs. 1.4). Similarly, bathroom mold improved from 17% to 8% after the intervention, compared with worsening in homes with education only (15% to 49%).
Over a 2-week period, the intervention group also had fewer asthma symptoms (23% vs. 38%) and fewer periods of stopped play because of asthma (8% vs. 21%), compared with the education-only group. The need for quick-relief medication over 2 weeks also was less in the intervention group, compared with the education-alone group (48% vs. 67%); this represented a reduction of 10% in the intervention group, compared with an 11% increase in the education group.
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