Questionnaire Development to Assess Risk Factors for Environmental Diseases of Children in Daejeon.

ABSTRACT

Background: Allergic diseases are common in children and adolescents. It is important to assess the prevalence and risk factors of environmental diseases to implement tailored countermeasures. Methods: This questionnaire study investigated factors associated with environmental diseases in elementary school children with an environmental disease from 150 households in Daejeon Metropolitan City, South Korea in 2021. Results: The participants comprised 55.7% girls and 44.3% boys, and the mean age was 10.1 years with an even age distribution. The typical risk factors observed were the type of roads nearby, the presence of mold or stains within the residence, pet ownership, and frequency of indoor ventilation and cleaning. Notably, 73.2% of the households had an eight-lane road nearby, 40.2% reported leaks, stains, or mold within their homes during the past year, and 37.1% ventilated their homes for less than 30 min. After education on preventing and managing environmental diseases, significant changes were observed in bedding washing frequency, average ventilation duration per session, and duration of humidifier usage (p < 0.05-0.001), with improvements in lifestyle. Conclusions: Our study can be used as a reference for expanding indoor air quality control education for parents with children with an environmental disease and providing tailored environmental consultations.