Prefabricated Temporary Housing and Eczema or Respiratory Symptoms in Schoolchildren after the Great East Japan Earthquake: The ToMMo Child Health Study.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to investigate the association between types of housing and allergic symptoms at 3-4 years following the Great East Japan Earthquake. METHODS: Our study was based on the ToMMo Child Health Study conducted in 2014 and 2015, a cross-sectional survey of public school children in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. Of the 46 648 invited schoolchildren in the 2nd to 8th grades, 9884 were included. Presence of eczema, wheezing, and mental health symptoms was defined with questionnaires. To calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% CIs for the associations between types of housing and eczema or respiratory symptoms, we fitted generalized linear mixed models, included a random effect for municipality of residence, and adjusted for sex, school grade, survey year, and mental health symptoms. RESULTS: Prefabricated temporary housing was significantly associated with eczema symptoms (OR, 1.46; 95% CI, 1.06-2.02). Even after adjusting for the presence of mental health symptoms, our analysis produced similar results (OR, 1.42; 95% CI, 1.03-1.96). Conversely, it was not significantly associated with respiratory symptoms (OR, 0.97; 95% CI, 0.61-1.54). CONCLUSIONS: Children living in prefabricated temporary housing had a higher prevalence of eczema symptoms; however, prevalence of respiratory symptoms was not significantly higher.