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Introduction: Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder characterized by airway obstruction and hyper responsiveness. Studies have suggested that household fuel exposure; either biomass or fossil fuel and housing characteristics have been associated with allergy. Recent analysis has also shown an increase in asthma among residential determinants of allergy. But there remains considerable uncertainty about whether this reflects an association with asthma. Hence this study was conducted to elucidate selected factors associated with asthma. Objective: To examine whether there is an association between household fuel exposure and housing characteristics with asthma at selected public hospitals in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Methods: Hospital-based case-control study design, matched with age and sex was done. Among four hundred eighty three participants, 161 were cases and 322 were controls selected using consecutive sampling technique from selected public hospitals in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Double population proportions formula with a 2:1 control to case ratio was used to calculate sample size with 95% confidence interval and 80% power. Data were collected between February and August, 2020 using structured questionnaire, entered into EPI info version 7.2 and then analyzed using SPSS version 24. Chi-square test was used to assure statistical significance. Conditional logistic regression model was applied to see the determinants of asthma. Both crude and adjusted odds ratios with 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to identify the strength, direction and significance of the association. Results: Among study subjects the odds of developing asthma was 4 times higher among those who used agricultural residues for cooking (AOR: 3.809, 95% CI: 1.052, 13.79). , 5 times higher among those who used wood for cooking (AOR: 4.954, 95% CI: 2.1, 11.686). 5 times higher among those who had family history of asthma (AOR: 4.725, 95% CI: 1.544, 14.454), 6 times higher among those who smoke tobacco (AOR: 6.16, 95% CI: 1.304, 29.098) and 10 times higher among those who don’t practice door opening, while cooking (AOR: 10.254, 95% CI: 3.969, 26.49). Conclusion: To reduce the risk of asthma development, people should practice door opening, while cooking, and must avoid using wood and agricultural residues for cooking and tobacco for smoking. Family history of asthma was also noted to be another risk factor for asthma. |
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