Document Type

Article

Source of Publication

Journal of Environmental and Public Health

Publication Date

1-1-2015

Abstract

© 2015 Caroline Barakat-Haddad et al. Purpose. To examine the role of air quality in relation to chronic bronchitis, emphysema, asthma, wheeze, and dry cough among adolescents from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Methods. A survey was administered on 6,363 adolescents from 9 UAE regions. Data consists of demographic, socioeconomic, residential, and behavioural variables, such as location of residence, residing near industry/gas stations/dumpsites/construction sites, residing near overhead power line/plants, exposure to tobacco, residential exposure, ethnicity, concern over air pollution, smoking, and purposely smelling gasoline fumes/glue/correctors/car exhaust/burning black ants. Logistic regression modeling was used to determine significant predictors of respiratory health. Results. Asthma prevalence was 12.3%, followed by chronic bronchitis (1.8%) and emphysema (0.5%). Overall 12.2% reported wheeze and 34.8% reported a dry nocturnal cough in the past year. Multivariate analyses suggest that sex is a significant predictor of asthma and dry cough. Exposure to tobacco and arts/crafts/ceramics/stain is significant predictor of respiratory health. Tobacco smoking and purposely smelling gasoline fumes/glue/correctors/car exhaust/burning black ants are significant predictors of wheeze and dry cough. Conclusions. This study suggests that exposure to air quality and behavioral factors such as smoking and purposely smelling gasoline fumes, glue, correctors, car exhaust, or burning black ants are significant predictors of respiratory health among UAE adolescents.

ISSN

1687-9805

Publisher

Hindawi Publishing Corporation

Volume

2015

First Page

284595

Last Page

284595

Disciplines

Economics | Environmental Sciences | Medicine and Health Sciences

Keywords

gasoline, adolescent, adult, air pollution, air quality, Article, asthma, behavior, chronic bronchitis, controlled study, coughing, environmental exposure, ethnicity, female, human, lung emphysema, major clinical study, male, prevalence, priority journal, residential area, smoking, United Arab Emirates, wheezing, adverse effects, cross-sectional study, Respiratory Sounds, Respiratory Tract Diseases, risk factor, young adult, Formicidae, Nicotiana tabacum, Adolescent, Air Pollution, Cross-Sectional Studies, Female, Humans, Male, Prevalence, Respiratory Sounds, Respiratory Tract Diseases, Risk Factors, United Arab Emirates, Young Adult

Scopus ID

84930943615

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Indexed in Scopus

yes

Open Access

yes

Open Access Type

Gold: This publication is openly available in an open access journal/series

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