ASSESSING THE RELATIONSHIP AMONG HOUSEHOLD ENVIRONMENT, DRINKING WATER AND PREVAILING ASTHMA IN KARACHI

Abstract

This paper explored the relationship between asthma and household (indoor) environmental triggers. A modified version of International union against tuberculosis and lung disease (IUATLD) questionnaire has been used for asthma indices. Univariate analysis was performed to displaying frequencies and percentages for qualitative variables. Nearly 8.3 % (n=79) of the total population sample was found to suffer from asthma due to one or more reason. For checking the association of indoor affected variables with presence of asthma in subjects, chi-square test was used. If the P value came out to be at-most 0.05, the association was considered to be significant. Variables, which showed significant association in chi-square test, were kept in advanced analysis. Effect model was build using Forward Wald Logistic Regression method with probability of stay = 0.05. Omnibus test was performed for the significance of model. Hosmer and Lameshow test was run to check any heterogeneity among variation in the model. People who use boiling water are little safe from asthma. Other indoor triggers i.e. smoking, use of carpet, household dampness, and ventilation are having significant role for asthma occurrence.