Home Air in Agriculture: Pediatric Intervention Trial

Home Air in Agriculture: Pediatric Intervention Trial

This study seeks to reduce exposure to asthmagens in the homes of a community of Latino children residing in an area of intense agricultural production in Eastern Washington by testing the effectiveness of an intervention (high efficiency particulate air filter- HEPA portable room air cleaners) plus asthma education to reduce indoor measures of particulate matter, ammonia, improve clinically relevant measures of asthma health, and reduce biomarkers of inflammation.

Over the course of five years, this project's specific aims are as follows:

1. Build on a well-established community based participatory research program to engage community partners in the design, implementation and evaluation of this asthma intervention study.
2. Conduct a year-long intervention study with longitudinal measurement of key asthmagen exposures and health outcome indicators with minimal participant burden.
3. Develop and characterize evaluation metrics for the process, impact and outcomes of this project in achievement of the aims.
4. Promote sustainable public health action via positive and transparent communications about the project to participants, local stakeholders, and state level policy makers through broad-based community outreach.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Eligibility criteria include male and female, poorly controlled asthma, likely to stay in the area over the course of the study, having only one residence, no smokers in the household and residential proximity to dairy operations/crop production (<400 meters) determined by the telephone screening questionnaire.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Prior participation in the Asthma Home Visiting Program, not from the northern third of the lower Yakima Valley, well controlled asthma, unlikely to stay in the are over the course of the study, smokers in the household, no residential proximity to dairy operations or crop production, having more than one residence and inability to communicate over the phone.