Disrupting Noxious Synergies of Indoor Air Pollutants and Their Impact in Childhood Health and Wellbeing, Using Advanced Intelligent Multisensing and Green Interventions: an Interventional Study in a Sub-group of Schoolchildren
Disrupting Noxious Synergies of Indoor Air Pollutants and Their Impact in Childhood Health and Wellbeing, Using Advanced Intelligent Multisensing and Green Interventions: an Interventional Study in a Sub-group of Schoolchildren
The goal of this study is to identify and assess in real time the impact of the combined action of various types of air and dust pollutants within a classroom on children's health and quality of life, particularly regarding atopic/allergic diseases in children, and on potential exposure to pollutants at home.
Participants will answer questionnaires regarding their health and medications, undergo allergy tests, perform non-invasive lung function tests and check blood oxygen levels.
The number and types of indoor air pollutants in schools is rising, however little is known about the impact of their potentially synergistic interactions, upon schoolchildren health. Among children, highly susceptible individuals to air pollution include allergy and asthma sufferers, and a low socioeconomic background, however no specific guidance is available.
The design of the study provides a unique setting to prospectively assess the synergistic effect of pollutants at school and outdoor on several health aspects in a large and diverse cohort. Most importantly, the continuous nature of information provided by sentinel devices will provide an individualized baseline of specific indicators that will be monitored during the follow up period, to identify personalized health alterations, instead of comparing to generalized standards. Health outcome data, including respiratory health, immune fitness and both mental and non-mental perspectives, focusing on asthmatic/allergic children, will contribute to pollution sensing in an iterative way
Inclusion Criteria:
Child included in the SynAir-G observational study
Child and caregiver(s) willing to follow the study procedures
Written informed consent from the child's parents/guardians
For case group, at least one positive answer (yes) to any of the following questions and for control group, negative answers to all the following questions based on the baseline questionnaire administered in the SynAir-G observational study, as shown below.:
a. General health i. Does your child have any health problems (if yes to asthma, allergic rhinitis /rhino-conjunctivitis, atopic dermatitis)? b. Asthma i. Has your child ever had wheezing or whistling in the chest in the past 12 months? ii. In the past 12 months, has your child's chest sounded wheezy during or after exercise? iii. In the past 12 months, has your child had a dry cough at night, apart from a cough associated with a cold or chest infection? c. Rhinitis i. In the past 12 months has your child had a problem with sneezing, or a runny, or blocked nose when she/he DID NOT have a cold or the flu? d. Eczema (both answers yes) i. Has your child had this itchy rash at any time in the past 12 months? If so, has this itchy rash at any time affected any of the following places: the folds of the elbows, behind the knees, in front of the ankles, under the buttocks, or around the neck, ears or eyes? e. Food allergy i. Has your child had diagnosed food allergy during last 12 months?
For case group: Diagnosis of asthma/allergic rhinitis/eczema/food allergy (based on SYNAIR-G baseline questionnaire), active during the past year.
For control group: absence of diagnosis of asthma/allergic rhinitis/eczema/food allergy (based on SYNAIR-G baseline questionnaire)
Exclusion Criteria:
Child or child's parents/guardians who: