Children's respiratory health in the context of housing and other social determinants in Rosengård - a cross-sectional study in an immigrant neighbourhood in Sweden
Year: 2014
Type: book
Abstract: The social determinants of health form a complex and dynamic web, shaping both populationand individual health and disease. The built environment and especially human dwellingsinfluence health in many ways. Associations between factors such as dampness, mouldgrowth, heating/insulation, and crowding on the one hand and respiratory health andinfectious diseases on the other hand have been studied in several populations.In Sweden, social and health inequalities have slowly been increasing. The linkages betweenthem have however not been characterized in detail. In this cross-sectional study, theapartments of families of children with respiratory symptoms living in a sociallydisadvantaged immigrant neighbourhood in Malmö, in which the incidence of bad housingwas known to be high, were assessed for potentially harmful housing-related exposures. Thisinformation was correlated with subjective questionnaire-based assessments not only ofdampness and mould in the apartments, but also with information on numerous otherbehavioural and social determinants of health.While agreement between objective and subjective assessments was generally only fair, thequestions performed better at excluding relevant exposures. The utility of screening questionsrelated to housing is related to the prevalence of the exposure in the population and to thedefault plan of action. A case is made for interdisciplinary home visits to be the default optionin families of children with respiratory symptoms.The overall prevalence of other contributory factors that are potentially harmful to health washigh 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 theyoften co-vary with other social determinants of health. Housing is however an importantpathway along which social inequalities translate into health inequalities.In order to sustainably address health inequalities rooted in complex webs of social,economic, and behavioural determinants, the health system needs to move beyondinterdisciplinary towards intersectoral cooperation.
Author: Jens Richter
Institution: Lund University
Language: English
Subfield: Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2186339015