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Identifying potentially unhealthy housing conditions in Rosengård – a cross-sectional study in immigrant households with small children in Sweden

Richter, Jens Christian LU (2013) MPHN11 20131
Social Medicine and Global Health
Abstract
The social determinants of health form a complex and dynamic web, shaping both population and individual health and disease. The built environment and especially human dwellings influence health in many ways. Associations between factors such as dampness, mould growth, heating/insulation, and crowding on the one hand and respiratory health and infectious diseases on the other hand have been studied in several populations.
In Sweden, social and health inequalities have slowly been increasing. The linkages between them have however not been characterized in detail. In this cross-sectional study, the apartments of families of children with respiratory symptoms living in a socially disadvantaged immigrant neighbourhood in Malmö, in which the... (More)
The social determinants of health form a complex and dynamic web, shaping both population and individual health and disease. The built environment and especially human dwellings influence health in many ways. Associations between factors such as dampness, mould growth, heating/insulation, and crowding on the one hand and respiratory health and infectious diseases on the other hand have been studied in several populations.
In Sweden, social and health inequalities have slowly been increasing. The linkages between them have however not been characterized in detail. In this cross-sectional study, the apartments of families of children with respiratory symptoms living in a socially disadvantaged immigrant neighbourhood in Malmö, in which the incidence of bad housing was known to be high, were assessed for potentially harmful housing-related exposures. This information was correlated with subjective questionnaire-based assessments of dampness and mould in the apartments.
While agreement between objective and subjective assessments was generally only fair, the questions performed better at excluding relevant exposures. The utility of screening questions related to housing is related to the prevalence of the exposure in the population and to the default plan of action. A case is made for interdisciplinary home visits to be the default option in families of children with respiratory symptoms.
The overall prevalence of other contributory factors that are potentially harmful to health was high in this population; potentially protective factors were distributed unevenly as well. Factors related to the built environment cannot and should not be seen in isolation, as they often co-vary with other social determinants of health. Housing is however an important pathway along which social inequalities translate into health inequalities. (Less)
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author
Richter, Jens Christian LU
supervisor
organization
course
MPHN11 20131
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
mould, dampness, built environment, housing, social determinants of health, child health
language
English
id
4191766
date added to LUP
2014-03-06 14:44:41
date last changed
2014-09-04 08:34:30
@misc{4191766,
  abstract     = {{The social determinants of health form a complex and dynamic web, shaping both population and individual health and disease. The built environment and especially human dwellings influence health in many ways. Associations between factors such as dampness, mould growth, heating/insulation, and crowding on the one hand and respiratory health and infectious diseases on the other hand have been studied in several populations.
In Sweden, social and health inequalities have slowly been increasing. The linkages between them have however not been characterized in detail. In this cross-sectional study, the apartments of families of children with respiratory symptoms living in a socially disadvantaged immigrant neighbourhood in Malmö, in which the incidence of bad housing was known to be high, were assessed for potentially harmful housing-related exposures. This information was correlated with subjective questionnaire-based assessments of dampness and mould in the apartments.
While agreement between objective and subjective assessments was generally only fair, the questions performed better at excluding relevant exposures. The utility of screening questions related to housing is related to the prevalence of the exposure in the population and to the default plan of action. A case is made for interdisciplinary home visits to be the default option in families of children with respiratory symptoms.
The overall prevalence of other contributory factors that are potentially harmful to health was high in this population; potentially protective factors were distributed unevenly as well. Factors related to the built environment cannot and should not be seen in isolation, as they often co-vary with other social determinants of health. Housing is however an important pathway along which social inequalities translate into health inequalities.}},
  author       = {{Richter, Jens Christian}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Identifying potentially unhealthy housing conditions in Rosengård – a cross-sectional study in immigrant households with small children in Sweden}},
  year         = {{2013}},
}