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This dissertation, An Epidemiological Study on the Living Environment, Passive Smoking and Respiratory Health of a Cohort of Children Aged 3-6 Years in HongKong by Siu-fung, Chung, 鍾少鳳, was obtained from The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong) and is being sold pursuant to Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0 Hong Kong License. The content of this dissertation has not been altered in any way. We have altered the formatting in order to facilitate the ease of printing and reading of the dissertation. All rights not granted by the above license are retained by the author. Abstract: Abstract of the thesis entitled An epidemiological study on the living environment, passive smoking and respiratory health of a cohort of children aged 3-6 years in Hong Kong submitted by CHUNG Siu Fung for the Degree of the Master of Philosophy at the University of Hong Kong. in March 1996 Objectives: To describe the health experience (with the focus on respiratory illnesses) of a cohort of children and to analyse the associations between the children's health and their living environment and exposure to passive smoking. Design: Cross-sectional study. Subjects: All the 3230 children born between April 1987 and June 1989 in Hong Kong who had participated in A survey on breast-feeding and fertility in Hong Kong in 1988-89 were eligible as subjects. From December 1992 to October 1993, when the children were aged 3-6 years, information of 2303 (71.3%) children were obtained from their parents who were interviewed by telephone. Results: The prevalence of diseases and health care utilization in the present study was quite comparable with those reported in other local studies. When compared with other places, the prevalence of health care utilization and most respiratory diseases and symptoms was not high. However, the cumulative prevalence of allergic rhinitis in Hong Kong was three times more than that in the UK, and was alarming with a prevalence of 17.3% in itself. Bad outdoor air quality in the living districts (i.e. respirable suspended particulates exceeded the Air Quality Objective) was significantly associated with the symptom often had blocked or runny nose in the previous twelve months (adjusted O.R.=1.31, 95% C.I. 1.06-1.60). Only among those children who lived in living quarters with an area of three hundred square feet or less, was incense burning in the living quarters significantlyassociated with the symptom often had blocked or runny nose (adjusted O.R.=1.61, 1.01-2.57) and with more than eight episodes of common cold (adjusted O.R.=1.62, 95% C.I. 1.05-2.50) in the previous twelve months. Grandparents smoking was significantly associated with the children's often cough (adjusted O.R.=1.81, 95% C.I. 1.08-3.06), doctor consultation for often cough/phlegm (adjusted O.R.=1.86, 95% C.I. 1.08-3.19) and common cold which usually lasted for more than six days in one episode (adjusted O.R.=1.64, 95% C.I. 1.05-2.57) in the previous twelve months. Other family members smoking was significantly associated with the children's ever having doctor diagnosed otitis media (adjusted O.R.=4.33, 95% C.I. 1.25-5.0), doctor consultation for respiratory problems in the previous thirty days (adjusted O.R.=2.04, 95% C.I. 1.05-3.93) and the children's health being perceived as 'not good' (adjusted O.R.=2.21, 95% C.1.1.11-4.44). Adverse effects of passive smoking were more likely to be found if the children lived in small living quarters. Among the children who lived in living quarters with an area of three hundred square feet or less, maternal, grandparents and other family members smoking were significant risk factors for some current respiratory symptoms. If they lived with two or more smokers or, in a family whose members smoked more than twenty cigarettes totally per day, when compared with those lived with no smokers, significant associations were found with most items of current respiratory symptoms. It was observed that adve

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