Abstract
A cross-sectional questionnaire study was conducted to determine whether there were differences in the prevalence of respiratory symptoms between residents of high and of low wood smoke pollution areas. Six hundred questionnaires were mailed to households in each area asking about respiratory symptoms, such as cold, cough, and congestion and wheezing. The response rate was 57% (325 households) in the high wood smoke area and 51% (257 households) in the low wood smoke area. There were no statistically significant differences between symptoms in the two areas when all age groups were combined for analysis. However, there was a trend toward more symptoms in children aged 1-5 years in the high wood smoke area both in an initial questionnaire, which asked about history of symptoms, and in the follow-up questionnaires, which asked about symptoms during the preceding 2 weeks. In particular, for congestion and wheezing, the percentage reported for the initial questionnaire in the high wood smoke area was 46.4 vs 28.6 in the low wood smoke area. This difference was 29.4 vs 0.0 during the second follow-up period. This pattern was not seen in the other age groups. It is concluded that this study supports the work of others who have suggested that wood smoke air pollution aggravates symptoms of respiratory disease in preschool children, despite an apparent absence of effect at older ages.
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