Increasing ventilation as an intervention in homes of asthmatic children

In children asthma is the most frequent chronic disease and house dust mite (HDM) allergy the most frequent cause of allergic asthma. Indoors most of the time, children are exposed to many indoor air pollutants that may act as asthma triggers. Reducing this exposure may improve asthma control in children. We conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled intervention study with 46 asthmatic, house dust mite allergic children. The aim was to investigate the association between indoor air quality in homes and severity of asthma, in particular the effect of increased ventilation rate and expected lower exposure to HDM on medication intake among these children. As a result of the intervention, the ventilation rate increased and the CO2 concentration fell significantly compared to baseline in the intervention group. The analyses of the effect of ventilation on health outcomes are being processed and will be revealed later.