Air Pollution, housing and respiratory tract Infections in Children: NatIonal birth Cohort study (PICNIC)

这项研究项目是关于什么的？我们将调查在怀孕和生命的头五年期间暴露于空气污染以及恶劣的住房条件(如过度拥挤和潮湿/霉菌)在多大程度上导致五岁以下儿童因呼吸道感染(RTI)而住院。我们为什么要做这项研究？呼吸道感染，包括毛细支气管炎、肺炎和哮喘，是英国幼儿住院的最常见原因。这些入院对孩子和他们的父母来说是有压力的，对国民健康服务(NHS)来说也是昂贵的。在生命的最初几年因呼吸道感染入院，也与儿童后期出现哮喘等慢性呼吸系统问题有关。此前的研究发现，来自贫困家庭的儿童更有可能需要RTI入院，但尚不清楚儿童生活条件的哪些方面对RTI入院人数的贡献最大。在这项研究中，我们将研究在子宫或儿童早期暴露于空气污染，以及恶劣的住房条件是否与儿童因呼吸道感染入院的风险有关。此外，我们还将研究，如果我们减少空气污染和/或改善有年幼子女的家庭的住房条件，英国可以防止多少RTI入境。我们将如何做到这一点？我们将使用从出生证明中收集的数据，并将这些数据与2005年至2014年期间在英格兰和1997年至2019年期间在苏格兰出生的所有儿童的生育记录和住院数据联系起来：总共有800万儿童。我们将把2011年人口普查中有关儿童孕期和儿童期空气污染暴露的数据、建筑特征以及住房和社会经济背景的信息联系起来。所有数据将被保存在安全的服务器上，并使用保护母亲和孩子身份的方法进行关联。我们将使用这些数据来检查暴露在空气污染和恶劣的住房条件下是否与生命的头五年因呼吸道感染入院治疗的风险增加有关。我们将使用统计方法，使我们能够考虑儿童是否有其他潜在的RTI住院风险因素，如慢性健康问题。我们还将确保其他研究人员可以访问这些数据集，以便在未来开展妇幼健康研究。

What is this research project about?We will investigate to what extent exposure to air pollution during pregnancy and the first five years of life and poor housing conditions (such as overcrowding and damp/mould) contribute to hospital admissions for respiratory tract infections (RTIs) in children less than five years old. Why are we doing this research?RTIs, including bronchiolitis, pneumonia and croup, are the most common reason for hospital admission in young children in the UK. These admissions are stressful for children, their parents and costly for the National Health Service (NHS). Being admitted to hospital with an RTI during the first few years of life is also associated with the development of chronic respiratory problems, such as asthma, in later childhood. Previous research has found that children from poor backgrounds are more likely to need an RTI admission, but it is not clear which aspects of children's living conditions make the largest contribution to RTI hospital admissions. In this study, we will examine whether exposure to air pollution in the womb or during early childhood, and poor housing conditions are associated with a child's risk of being admitted to hospital with an RTI. Also, we will look at how many RTI admissions could be prevented in the UK if we reduced air pollution and/or improved housing conditions for families with young children. How are we going to do it?We will use data collected from birth certificates, linked to maternity records and hospital admission data for all children born in England between 2005 and 2014, and Scotland between 1997 and 2019: 8 million children in total. We will link in data about children's air pollution exposure during pregnancy and childhood, building characteristics, and information about housing and socio-economic background from the 2011 Census. All data will be kept on secure servers and linked using methods that protect the identities of mothers and children.We will use these data to examine whether exposure to air pollution and poor housing conditions are associated with an increased risk of being admitted to hospital with an RTI during the first five years of life. We will use statistical methods that allow us to take into account whether children have other underlying risk factors for RTI hospital admissions, such as chronic health problems. We will also make sure that other researchers can access these datasets to carry out maternal and child health research in the future.