Skin morbidity in Indigenous children in relation to housing conditions in remote communities in Northwestern Ontario, Canada.
Journal
Clinical and experimental dermatology
ISSN: 1365-2230
Titre abrégé: Clin Exp Dermatol
Pays: England
ID NLM: 7606847
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
01 Mar 2023
01 Mar 2023
Historique:
pubmed:
11
2
2023
medline:
4
3
2023
entrez:
10
2
2023
Statut:
ppublish
Résumé
Elevated rates of eczema and skin infections in Canadian First Nation (FN) communities are of concern to families, community leaders and healthcare professionals. To determine whether skin morbidity was associated with indoor environmental quality factors in Canadian FN children living in remote communities. We quantified indoor environmental quality (IEQ) in the homes of FN children aged < 4 years of age living in four remote communities in the Sioux Lookout region of Northwestern Ontario, Canada. We conducted a quantitative housing inspection, including measuring surface area of mould (SAM), and monitored air quality for 5 days in each home, including carbon dioxide and relative humidity and quantified endotoxin in settled floor dust. We reviewed the medical charts of participating children for skin conditions and administered a health questionnaire. Relationships between IEQ and skin infections or eczema were evaluated using multivariable regression. In total, 98 children were included in the descriptive analyses, of whom 86 had complete data and were evaluated in multivariate analyses for dermatological outcomes (mean age 1.6 years). Of these 86 children, 55% had made ≥ 1 visits to the local health centre (HC) for skin and soft tissue infections and 25.5% for eczema. Unexpectedly, annualized eczema visits were inversely associated with SAM (RR = 0.14; 95% CI 0.01-0.93). There was a trend suggesting an inverse relationship between endotoxin and HC encounters for eczema and skin and soft tissue infections. Skin infections were common in this population of FN children. IEQ did not appear to be associated with skin infections or eczema. Mould exposure appeared to be inversely associated with HC encounters for eczema, possibly related to complex microorganism-host interactions occurring early in life.
Sections du résumé
BACKGROUND
BACKGROUND
Elevated rates of eczema and skin infections in Canadian First Nation (FN) communities are of concern to families, community leaders and healthcare professionals.
AIM
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether skin morbidity was associated with indoor environmental quality factors in Canadian FN children living in remote communities.
METHODS
METHODS
We quantified indoor environmental quality (IEQ) in the homes of FN children aged < 4 years of age living in four remote communities in the Sioux Lookout region of Northwestern Ontario, Canada. We conducted a quantitative housing inspection, including measuring surface area of mould (SAM), and monitored air quality for 5 days in each home, including carbon dioxide and relative humidity and quantified endotoxin in settled floor dust. We reviewed the medical charts of participating children for skin conditions and administered a health questionnaire. Relationships between IEQ and skin infections or eczema were evaluated using multivariable regression.
RESULTS
RESULTS
In total, 98 children were included in the descriptive analyses, of whom 86 had complete data and were evaluated in multivariate analyses for dermatological outcomes (mean age 1.6 years). Of these 86 children, 55% had made ≥ 1 visits to the local health centre (HC) for skin and soft tissue infections and 25.5% for eczema. Unexpectedly, annualized eczema visits were inversely associated with SAM (RR = 0.14; 95% CI 0.01-0.93). There was a trend suggesting an inverse relationship between endotoxin and HC encounters for eczema and skin and soft tissue infections.
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSIONS
Skin infections were common in this population of FN children. IEQ did not appear to be associated with skin infections or eczema. Mould exposure appeared to be inversely associated with HC encounters for eczema, possibly related to complex microorganism-host interactions occurring early in life.
Identifiants
pubmed: 36763733
pii: 6882123
doi: 10.1093/ced/llac082
doi:
Substances chimiques
Endotoxins
0
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
218-224Informations de copyright
© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of British Association of Dermatologists. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.
Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts
Conflict of interest: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.