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Join our international research project on the impact of school environment on children's respiratory health. Help us assess associations, recommend improvements, and prevent respiratory diseases in schools.
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SEARCH School Environment And Respiratory health of CHildren an international research project within the “Indoor Air Quality in European Schools. Preventing and reducing respiratory diseases” programme
INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION ADVANTAGES • Combination of experience • Combination of resources • Bigger datasets, stronger associations DISADVANTAGES • Different possibilities • Quality assurance/ quality control needed
OBJECTIVES • to assess the associations between the school environment and the children’s (respiratory) health • to make recommendations for improving the quality of school environment
STUDY DESIGN: cross-sectional Exposure assessment • measurement of the indoor air quality in the school • questionnaire on the class-room and time spent there • questionnaire on the school building and its maintenance • questionnaire on the home environment Health assessment • symptom questionnaire (cough, wheeze, asthma dg, allergy) with questions on confounding factors, too • lung function measurement • other (laboratory tests, e.g. nasal smear test) (ethical approval may be needed!)
STUDY DESIGN: cross-sectional Advantages: • Cheap (relatively) • Quick and can be easily performed (relatively) • Reasonable number of participants Disadvantages: • Time-link between exposure and health outcome can not be determined • Causal relationship can not be established (only hypothesis can be set up, confirmed by statistical analysis)
DATA EVALUATION 1. Determination of prevalences (frequency of children with various respiratory symptoms or impaired lung function) 2. Associations between • the presence and quantity of various pollutants and the prevalences (look for dose-response relationships!) - by multivariate logistic regression (Odds Ratios, OR and their 95% confidence intervals, 95% CIs) - or linear regression
SCHOOL SELECTION • Number of schools per country: 10 • Number of children per school: 100 • Age of the children: 8-9 years (3rd grade) • Selection criteria to be decided, whether by – symptom prevalence - polluted vs, clean environment - building characteristics (new/old or light/traditional construction)