Journal
JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY
Volume 24, Issue 1, Pages 39-46Publisher
JAPAN EPIDEMIOLOGICAL ASSOC
DOI: 10.2188/jea.JE20130082
Keywords
risk factors; respiratory symptoms; gastrointestinal symptoms; dermal symptoms; swimming; swimming pools; household clustering
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Funding
- National Health Medical Research Council (NHMRC) [384226]
- Cooperative Research Centre for Water Quality and Treatment
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Background: Although gastrointestinal (GI), respiratory, and dermal symptoms are common, few studies have conducted concurrent and comparative prospective analyses of risk factors for these 3 morbidity outcomes. Methods: We used data from a community-based randomized controlled trial among 277 South Australian families to analyze GI (diarrhea, vomiting), respiratory (sore throat, runny nose, cough) and dermal (rash, generalized itch, dermal infection) symptoms. Results: Log-binomial regression analysis revealed similar risks of GI (adjusted risk ratio [RR], 1.65; 95% CI, 1.05-2.58) and respiratory (RR, 1.68; 95% CI, 1.31-2.15) symptoms among childcare/kindergarten attendees. Swimming in public pools/spas in the current or previous week was associated with all 3 symptom complexes, conferring similar risk for each (RR for GI: 1.33; 95% CI, 0.99-1.77; respiratory: 1.20; 95% CI, 1.04-1.38; dermal: 1.41; 95% CI, 1.08-1.85). Pet ownership was not associated with symptoms. Household clustering of GI and respiratory symptoms was common, and clustering of respiratory symptoms correlated with number of individuals per household. Conclusions: This simultaneous examination of risk factors for 3 health outcomes yielded new comparative data that are useful for developing prevention strategies.
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