AGRICULTURAL DUST AND CHILDHOOD ASTHMA SYMPTOMS

描述（由申请人提供）：拟议的研究将评估北卡罗来纳州公立学校7年级和8年级学生接触工业化牲畜操作与哮喘相关症状患病率之间的关系。在1999-2000学年期间，北卡罗来纳州卫生与公众服务部对中学生进行了一项全州范围的基于人群的调查，以评估哮喘相关症状的患病率、药物使用、充分使用药物的障碍以及所报告症状的行为后果。本申请旨在通过探索接受调查的学生中哮喘症状的患病率与在校期间暴露于农业空气污染物之间的关系，来扩展全州调查的益处和效用。学校接触将使用一个广泛的工业化畜牧业数据库进行估计，包括有关动物大小、类型、地理位置和废物管理做法的信息。接触估计数将补充有关学校环境的信息，包括空调、霉菌、气味和其他学校建筑特征。流行病学分析将侧重于哮喘相关症状的患病率与暴露估计值之间的关联。本研究的具体目的是：（1）使用以下测量值的空间分析来估计公立中学工业畜牧业操作的空气排放物暴露：（a）从畜牧场到中学的距离，（B）给定中学周围的畜牧场中所有动物的稳态活重，以及（c）从学校人员获得的关于气味的信息，（2）确定学生患哮喘相关症状的风险是否与最近的工业化牲畜养殖场的距离、学校附近的牲畜数量以及学校接触工业化牲畜有关;和（3）评估哮喘相关症状和暴露在地理，种族，和社会经济类别，以确定症状和牲畜接触的频率和严重程度是否给特定学生亚群造成最沉重的负担。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The proposed study will assess the relationship between exposure to industrial livestock operations and the prevalence of asthma-related symptoms among 7TH and 8TH grade students attending public schools in North Carolina. During the 1999-2000 school year, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services conducted a statewide population-based survey of middle school students in order to assess the prevalence of asthma-related symptoms, medication use, barriers to adequate medication use, and behavioral consequences of the reported symptoms. This application seeks to extend the benefit and utility of the statewide survey by exploring the relationship between the prevalence of asthma symptoms among surveyed students and exposure to agricultural airborne pollutants experienced during school hours. School-based exposure will be estimated using an extensive database of industrial livestock operations, including information about the size, type of animals, geographic location, and waste management practices. Exposure estimates will be supplemented with information provided about the school environment, including air-conditioning, mold, odor, and other school-building characteristics. Epidemiologic analyses will focus on the association between the prevalence of asthma-related symptoms and exposure estimates. The specific aims of this study are: (1) to estimate exposure to airborne emissions from industrial livestock operations at public middle schools using spatial analysis of the following measurements: (a) distance from the livestock operation to the middle school, (b) steady state live weight of all animals in livestock operations surrounding a given middle school, and (c) information obtained from school personnel about odor, environmental, and physical conditions at the schools; (2) to determine whether students' risk of asthma-related symptoms is related to the distance to the nearest industrial livestock operation, quantity of animals near the school, and school-based exposure to industrial livestock; and (3) to evaluate the distribution of asthma-related symptoms and exposures within geographic, racial, and socio-economic categories to determine whether the frequency and severity of symptoms and livestock exposures most heavily burden specific subpopulations of students.