An epidemiological study of the relative importance of damp housing in relation to adult health

Abstract

Study objective-To examine the association between damp housing and adult health, taking into account a wide range of other factors that may influence health and could confound this relation. Participants and setting-A general population sample of adults, aged 18-64, from Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Northamptonshire. Design-Secondary analysis of responses to a postal questionnaire survey carried out in 1997 with a 64% response rate (8889 of 13 800). Housing dampness was assessed by self report. Health was measured by responses to a series of questions including presence of asthma and longstanding illness generally, use of health services and perceived health status (the SF-36). The eVect of damp was examined using the 2 test and one way analysis of variance. Significant associations with the various health outcomes were further explored taking into account 35 other housing, demographic, psychosocial and lifestyle variables using stepwise logistic and linear regression. Main results-Bivariate analyses indicated that damp was associated with the majority of health outcomes. Regression modelling however, found that being unable to keep the home warm enough in winter was a more important explanatory variable. Worry about pressure at work and to a lesser extent about money, showed an independent association with perceived health status equal to or greater than that of the housing environment, including cold housing, and that of health related lifestyles. Conclusions-This study shows that being unable to keep the home warm enough in winter is more strongly associated with health outcomes than is damp housing. However, as cold and damp housing are closely related, it is likely that their combined eVects are shown in these results. The importance of worry as an independent predictor of health status needs testing in other studies. Its prevalence and relative importance suggest that it may be a significant determinant of public health.

Is Public Housing the Cause of Poor Health or a Safety Net for the Unhealthy Poor?

“…As it was difficult to get many respondents to explain why affordability was important, about halfway through the study period, we added a direct question asking if health was part of the reason they entered public housing. A further proportion of respondents in each of the above category answered directly if health was a reason for entering public housing (columns [3][4][5][6]. Approximately one-third of those that gave a non-health reason for entering public housing stated that health was a reason when asked directly.…”

Housing and Public Health

“…In addition, owing to the observed dose-response effect of damp and the mechanism of mold found in the Glasgow study, Evans et al (23) state: " [T]here is now evidence that the relation between damp housing and ill health is causal." Evans and colleagues themselves conducted a postal survey of self-reported housing dampness and health including asthma, longstanding illness, use of health services, and the SF36 health questionnaire.…”

Effect of social factors on winter hospital admission for respiratory disease: a case–control study of older people in the UK

“…Several observational studies show that indoor temperature might be an important contributory factor in respiratory morbidity and mortality during winter, [29][30][31][32] but there is no other individual-level study assessing its effect on respiratory admissions. The power in the final analysis of this study was not sufficient to test this appropriately; also the method for determining heating levels was crude.…”