Data from: Poor housing conditions in association with child health in a disadvantaged immigrant population: a cross-sectional study in Rosengård, Malmö, Sweden

Objectives: To describe the home environment in terms of housing
conditions and their association with child health in a disadvantaged
immigrant population. Design: A cross-sectional observational study.
Setting: Enrolment took place during 2010–2011 in Rosengård, Malmö,
Sweden. Participants: Children aged 0–13 years in 2 study neighbourhoods
were recruited from local health records and from schools. 359 children
participated, with a participation rate of 40%. Data on health, lifestyle
and apartment characteristics from questionnaire-led interviews with the
mothers of the children were obtained together with data from home
inspections carried out by trained health communicators. Outcome measures:
Logistic regression analysis was used to estimate ORs for various health
outcomes, adjusted for demographic information and lifestyle factors.
Results: The housing conditions were very poor, especially in one of the
study neighbourhoods where 67% of the apartments had been sanitised of
cockroaches, 27% were infested with cockroaches and 40% had a visible
mould. The association between housing conditions and health was mostly
inconclusive, but there were statistically significant associations
between current asthma and dampness (OR=4.1, 95% CI 1.7 to 9.9), between
asthma medication and dampness (OR=2.8, 95% CI 1.2 to 6.4), and between
mould and headache (OR=4.2, 95% CI 1.2 to 14.8). The presence of
cockroaches was associated with emergency care visits, with colds, with
headache and with difficulty falling asleep, and worse general health was
associated with mould and presence of cockroaches. Conclusions: The
associations between dampness and asthma, and the association between
mould and headache, are in line with current knowledge. The presence of
cockroaches seemed to be associated with various outcomes, including those
related to mental well-being, which is less described in the literature.
The results of the present study are hypothesis generating and provide
strong incentives for future studies in this study population.