The modifying effect of socioeconomic status on the relationship between traffic, air pollution and respiratory health in elementary schoolchildren

Abstract

The volume and type of traffic and exposure to air pollution have been found to be associated with respiratory health, but few studies have considered the interaction with socioeconomic status at the household level. We investigated the relationships of respiratory health related to traffic type, traffic volume, and air pollution, stratifying by socioeconomic status, based on household income and education, in 3591 schoolchildren in Windsor, Canada. Interquartile range changes in traffic exposure and pollutant levels were linked to respiratory symptoms and objective measures of lung function using generalised linear models for three levels of income and education. In 95% of the relationships among all cases, the odds ratios for reported respiratory symptoms (a decrease in measured lung function), based on an interquartile range change in traffic exposure or pollutant, were greater in the lower income/education groups than the higher, although the odds ratios were in most cases not significant. However, in up to 62% of the cases, the differences between high and low socioeconomic groups were statistically significant, thus indicating socioeconomic status (SES) as a significant effect modifier. Our findings indicate that children from lower socioeconomic households have a higher risk of specific respiratory health problems (chest congestion, wheezing) due to traffic volume and air pollution exposure.

Adolescent lung function associated with incense burning and other environmental exposures at home

“…found an inverse association between the distances from home to major road and lung function among children. Cakmak et al 28. found that increasing truck turning movement counts were negatively associated with FVC and increased the prevalence of respiratory symptoms for children among lower‐income families.…”

A time‐to‐event analysis on air pollutants with the risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality: A systematic review and meta‐analysis of 84 cohort studies

“…Despite the advanced measures to mitigate pollution, 90% of the world population fails to meet the standard air quality criteria recommended by the World Health Organization 2 . The aerodynamic toxic of particulate matter (PM) with less than 10 mm in diameter (PM 10 ), or finer than 2.5 mm (PM 2.5 ), as well as traffic exposure NO 2 (nitric dioxide), have been linked with health issues in human 1,3,4 . As modifiable cardiovascular risk factors, there is a growing interest to further evaluate the adverse effect of these pollutants to the population 5 …”

Relations between Objective and Perceived Built Environments and the Modifying Role of Individual Socioeconomic Position. A Cross-Sectional Study on Traffic Noise and Urban Green Space in a Large German City

“…This vulnerability model assumes that, given the same magnitude of environmental exposures, environmental adverse health effects are stronger in low socioeconomic groups compared to high socioeconomic groups [6,28]. In epidemiological studies socioeconomic vulnerability is mostly investigated with quantitative methods analysing effect modification, for example with stratification or interaction terms [29,30,31]. …”