Cooking fuel as a risk factor for adenoid hypertrophy in children aged less than five living in an informal settlement, Nairobi County, Kenya

Authors

  • Anne Senewa Department of Ear, Nose and Throat, Ministry of Health, Mbagathi Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya
  • Anne M. Pertet Department of Ear, Nose and Throat, Ministry of Health, Mbagathi Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya
  • Careena Otieno-Odawa Department of Community Health, Great Lakes University of Kisumu, Kenya

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18203/2349-3291.ijcp20182531

Keywords:

Adenoid hypertrophy, Cooking fuel, Children, Informal settlement, Kenya

Abstract

Background: Fuels used for cooking are major sources of household air pollution, which lead to increased prevalence of upper respiratory tract infections and allergic conditions especially in children. The aim of present study was to investigate whether fuels used for cooking were risk factors for adenoid hypertrophy in children.

Methods: Authors used a case-control study design where the exposure was cooking fuel and the disease was adenoid hypertrophy. Cases were children where a post nasal space x-ray showed enlargement of the adenoids. The controls were children with no adenoid hypertrophy or related diseases. The sample consisting of 112 children was hospital based. Parent-administrated questionnaires were used to collect information on cooking fuel.

Results: Cooking gas and charcoal were associated adenoid hypertrophy. Adjusted odds ratio (OR) were 1.092 for charcoal and 3.516 for gas. Children in households where gas was predominantly used for cooking were three times more likely to have enlarged adenoids.

Conclusions: Exposure to cooking gas which emits nitrogen dioxide was a primarily risk for adenoid hypertrophy. Larger community-based studies are recommended to come up with evidence that guides policy concerning use of household fuels and adenoid hypertrophy.

References

World Health Organization. Burden of disease from Household Air Pollution for 2012. World Heal. Organ. 2014;35:17.

Apte K, Salvi S. Household air pollution and its effects on health. F1000Research. 2016;5:1-13.

Chauhan AJ, Inskip HM, Linaker CH, Smith S, Schreiber J, Johnston SL, Holgate ST. Personal exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and the severity of virus-induced asthma in children. Lancet. 2003 Jun 7;361(9373):1939-44.

Zhang G, Spickett J, Rumchev K, Lee AH, Stick S. Snoring in primary school children and domestic environment: a Perth school based study. Respiratory Res. 2004 Dec;5(1):19.

Committee on Environmental Health. Ambient air pollution: health hazards to children. Pediatrics. 2004 Dec 1;114(6):1699-707.

Lumeng JC, Chervin RD. Epidemiology of pediatric obstructive sleep apnea. Proceedings of the American Thoracic Society. 2008 Feb;5(2):242-52.

Gordon SB, Bruce NG, Grigg J, Hibberd PL, Kurmi OP, Lam KB, Mortimer K, Asante KP, Balakrishnan K, Balmes J, Bar-Zeev N. Respiratory risks from household air pollution in low and middle income countries. Lancet Respir Medicine. 2014 Oct 1;2(10):823-60.

Li S, Jin X, Yan C, Wu S, Jiang F, Shen X. Habitual snoring in school-aged children: environmental and biological predictors. Respir Res. 2010 Dec;11(1):144.

Po JY, FitzGerald JM, Carlsten C. Respiratory disease associated with solid biomass fuel exposure in rural women and children: systematic review and meta-analysis. Thorax. 2011 Mar 1;66(3):232-9.

Karekezi S, Kimani J, Onguru O. Energy access among the urban poor in Kenya. Energy for Sustainable Development. 2008 Dec 1;12(4):38-48.

Ciuk J, Volkmer RE, Edwards JW. Domestic nitrogen oxide exposure, urinary nitrate and asthma prevalence in preschool children. Arch Environmen Health: Int J. 2001 Sep;56(5):433-8.

Downloads

Published

2018-06-22

Issue

Section

Original Research Articles