Occupational and environmental medicine
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Multicenter Study
Repeated respiratory hospital encounters among children with asthma and residential proximity to traffic.
The prevalence of adverse respiratory outcomes among children has been frequently associated with measurements of traffic-related exposures, and other data suggest asthma severity is worsened with residence near heavy traffic. We examined the association between neighbourhood traffic burden and repeated acute respiratory illnesses that required emergency department visits and/or hospitalisation for children with a primary or secondary diagnosis of asthma (89% acute bronchitis or pneumonia). ⋯ Results suggest exposure to traffic-related air pollution increases asthma severity as indicated by hospital utilisation. The finding in infants suggests this is an especially vulnerable population, although the validity of asthma diagnosis at this age is unknown. Females and children who do not have private insurance may also be more vulnerable to air pollution from traffic.