Yuwadee Ratthanakhot. Household hygiene practices microbial counts particulate matter(PM 10) and prevalence of indoor air related symptoms among children and care providers at Rajvithi home. Master's Degree(Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology ). Mahidol University. : Mahidol University, 2007.
Household hygiene practices microbial counts particulate matter(PM 10) and prevalence of indoor air related symptoms among children and care providers at Rajvithi home
Abstract:
A cross-sectional study was carried out to investigate microbial counts and
particulate matter (PM10) in indoor air samples, and to assess household hygiene practices
and air quality related symptoms among children and adolescent and care providers at
Rajvithi Home, Bangkok, between May 2006 and November 2006. A total of 66 air
sampling sites from 20 households and 6 classrooms were selected. Totally, 212 indoor air
samples were collected by to assess microbial counts using Millipore Air Tester, and 66
samples were collected to assess PM10 levels by using Gilian Personal Pump Cyclone.
Fifty-two outdoor air samples were collected to investigate microbial counts and 26
samples for PM10 levels used for comparison. Nineteen care providers and 424 children
and adolescents from studied households were interviewed to ascertain general
characteristics and current illnesses of indoor air related symptoms. Thirty-six children
and adolescents who had responsibility for cleaning in each household were interviewed
about household hygiene practices.
Results revealed that mean ± SD of indoor bacterial counts was 527.8±230.9
cfu/m3, that of fungal counts was 514.6±256.7 cfu/m3, and that of PM10 levels was
125.1±48.0 μg/m3. These were higher than outdoor air samples of bacterial counts
(264.6±179.7 cfu/m3), fungal counts (308.7±217.3 cfu/m3), and PM10 levels (120.1±66.9
μg/m3). Household hygiene practices among studied children and adolescents showed
88.9% and 91.7% of studied children and adolescents mop the floor in the living room and
bedroom everyday in the week. In addition, 66.7% and 33.3% of studied children and
adolescents had good and fair household hygiene practice scores. The prevalence of
current illnesses of indoor air related symptoms among children and adolescents was
46.7% and 63.1% of care providers. The relationship between household hygiene
practices, microbial counts, PM10 levels and current illnesses of indoor air related
symptoms showed no significance (p>0.05). The correlation between bacterial counts and
fungal counts and PM10 levels showed that only indoor bacterial counts and fungal counts
were significant. (r = 0.22, p<0.001).
This study provides a guide for the management for reducing the microbial counts
and particulate matter (PM10) by cleaning of the indoor environment.