Prevalence and Influencing Factors of Wheezing and Asthma Among Preschool Children in Urumqi City: A Cross-sectional Survey

Abstract

Background: To investigate the prevalence and indoor environmental influencing factors of wheezing and asthma among preschool children in Urumqi, Xinjiang, China to provide a strong basis for prevention and control. Methods: In August 2019, a cross-sectional epidemiological study involving 8153 preschool children was conducted in 60 kindergartens in Urumqi. The mean age of the children who participated in the survey was 5.27 ± 1.10 years. Additionally, 51.9% were boys, 86.9% were Han Chinese, and an 81.53% survey response rate was observed. The childhood wheeze and asthma survey used was the ALLHOME-2 questionnaire, and the childhood home dwelling and living environment survey used was the DBH questionnaire. Partial adjustments were made according to the geographical environment of Urumqi and the living habits of the residents.Results: The prevalence of wheezing and asthma in children was 4.7% and 2.0%, respectively. Multivariate unconditional logistic regression results suggested that ethnicity (odds ratio (OR)=1.39, 95% confidence interval (95%CI)=1.05–1.84), birth pattern (OR=1.24, 95%CI=1.00–1.53), family history of asthma (OR=5.00, 95%CI=3.36–7.44), carpet or floor bedding at home (OR=1.40, 95%CI=1.05–1.87), purchasing new furniture in the mother’s residence during pregnancy (OR=1.58,95%CI=1.06–2.36), pet keeping in the residence at age 0–1 (OR=1.55, 95%CI=1.13–2.13), passive smoking in the child's residence (OR=1.35, 95%CI=1.01–1.80), and having mould or hygroma in the child's residence at age 0–1 (OR=1.72, 95%CI=1.12–2.64) were risk factors for wheezing. In addition, sex (OR=0.73, 95%CI=0.59-0.90) was a protective factor for wheezing. Birth pattern (OR=1.46, 95%CI=1.06–2.00), family history of asthma (OR=7.06,95%CI=4.33–11.53), carpet or floor bedding at home (OR=2.20, 95%CI=1.50–3.23), and pet keeping in the residence at age 0–1 (OR=1.64, 95%CI=1.04–1.83) were risk factors for asthma, whereas gender (OR=0.58, 95% CI=0.42–0.80) was a protective factor for asthma. Conclusion: This survey indicates that preschool children in Urumqi have a higher risk of wheezing and asthma. Risk factors that may cause an elevated risk of wheezing or asthma have also been identified.

Prevalence and influencing factors of wheeze and asthma among preschool children in Urumqi city: a cross-sectional survey

“…Kim et al 13 found a higher prevalence of asthma in boys than in girls, and children with a family history of asthma had a higher risk of developing asthma. Quite a few studies have found that the risk of asthma in minorities is greater than that in the Han population 7 , 14 . This is consistent with the results of the present study.…”