Associations of solid fuel exposure and kitchen ventilation with mental disorders in rural areas: Evidence from a...

This research aimed to investigate the relationship of rural kitchen fuel types with the risk of depression, anxiety, and SI (suicidal ideation), including the impact of kitchen ventilation. A total of 12,058 eligible participants were obtained from the Henan rural cohort study. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to examine the impact of solid fuel use on the occurrence of mental disorders, as well as the modifying effect of kitchen mechanical ventilation. After adjusting for confounding factors, solid fuel use was associated with depression, anxiety and SI with odds ratios and 95 % confidence intervals (ORs and 95 % CIs) of 1.46 (1.12, 1.89), 1.45 (1.10, 1.89), and 1.27 (0.92, 1.74), respectively. The joint effect results showed that the risks of depression, anxiety symptoms and SI increased by 1.25 (0.64, 2.09), 1.26 (0.63, 2.13) and 1.69 (0.80, 3.04) for solid fuel and natural ventilation, respectively. The interaction results showed that 46 % of the risk of depression and anxiety symptoms could be attributed to the synergistic effect of solid fuel use and natural ventilation. Stratified analyses yielded similar findings. Exposure of solid fuel is associated with increased risks of depression, anxiety, and SI, and kitchen mechanical ventilation could reduce the adverse effects of solid fuel use on mental disorders. It is suggested that kitchen mechanical ventilation may be an effective approach to ameliorate the risk of mental disorders from solid fuel exposure.