Synthetic bedding and wheeze in childhood

Area of Science:

• Environmental Health
• Pediatric Respiratory Medicine
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Childhood asthma rates are rising, with the indoor environment being a key area of concern.
• Previous studies suggest a link between synthetic bedding and childhood wheeze, but prospective infant data were lacking.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between infant bedding and the development of frequent wheeze and asthma in childhood.
• To determine if synthetic bedding use in infancy predicts respiratory symptoms at age seven.

Main Methods:

• Prospective cohort study using infant survey data at one month of age (N=863).
• Follow-up data collected at age seven, embedded within a larger cross-sectional survey (N=6,378).
• Respiratory symptoms assessed using the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood protocol; frequent wheeze defined as >12 episodes/year.

Main Results:

• Infant synthetic pillow use at one month was associated with frequent wheeze at age seven (aRR=2.5).
• Current use of synthetic pillows and quilts showed a strong association with frequent wheeze (aRR=5.2).
• A dose-response trend was observed between the number of synthetic bedding items and wheeze frequency; earlier asthma onset in children using synthetic bedding in infancy.

Conclusions:

• Synthetic bedding in infancy is strongly and consistently associated with frequent childhood wheeze.
• The observed association is unlikely to be explained by bedding choice as an asthma management strategy.