The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology
Volume 123, Issue 3 , Pages 626-631, March 2009

Exposure to traffic: Lung function and health status in adults with asthma

  • John R. Balmes, MD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Medicine, University of California—San Francisco, San Francisco, Calif
    • Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California—Berkeley, Berkeley, Calif
    • Corresponding Author InformationReprint requests: John R. Balmes, MD, University of California—San Francisco, Box 0843, San Francisco, CA 94143-0843.
    • ,
  • Gillian Earnest, MS

      Affiliations

    • Department of Medicine, University of California—San Francisco, San Francisco, Calif
    • ,
  • Patricia P. Katz, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Medicine, University of California—San Francisco, San Francisco, Calif
    • Institute for Health Policy Studies, University of California—San Francisco, San Francisco, Calif
    • ,
  • Edward H. Yelin, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Medicine, University of California—San Francisco, San Francisco, Calif
    • Institute for Health Policy Studies, University of California—San Francisco, San Francisco, Calif
    • ,
  • Mark D. Eisner, MD, MPH

      Affiliations

    • Department of Medicine, University of California—San Francisco, San Francisco, Calif
    • ,
  • Hubert Chen, MD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Medicine, University of California—San Francisco, San Francisco, Calif
    • ,
  • Laura Trupin, MPH

      Affiliations

    • Department of Medicine, University of California—San Francisco, San Francisco, Calif
    • Institute for Health Policy Studies, University of California—San Francisco, San Francisco, Calif
    • ,
  • Fred Lurmann, MS

      Affiliations

    • Sonoma Technology Incorporated, Petaluma, Calif
    • ,
  • Paul D. Blanc, MD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Medicine, University of California—San Francisco, San Francisco, Calif
    • Cardiovascular Research Institute, University of California—San Francisco, San Francisco, Calif

Received 22 April 2008; received in revised form 25 September 2008; accepted 29 October 2008. published online 19 January 2009.

Background

Exposure to traffic has been associated with asthma outcomes in children, but its effect on asthma in adults has not been well studied.

Objective

To test the hypothesis that lung function and health status are associated with traffic exposures.

Methods

We measured FEV1 % predicted, general health status using the Physical Component Scale of the 12-item Short Form (SF-12 PCS), and quality of life (QoL) using the Marks Asthma Quality of Life questionnaire in a cohort of adults with asthma or rhinitis (n = 176; 145 with asthma). We assessed exposures to traffic by geocoding subjects' residential addresses and assigning distance to roadways. Associations between distance to nearest roadway and distance to nearest major roadway and FEV1 % predicted or SF-12 PCS were studied by using linear regression.

Results

FEV1 % predicted was positively associated with distance from both nearest roadway (P = .01) and nearest major roadway (P = .02). SF-12 PCS and QoL were not significantly associated with either traffic variable. Adjustment for income, smoking, and obesity did not substantively change the associations of the traffic variables with FEV1 % predicted (P = .04 for nearest roadway and P = .02 for nearest major roadway) and did not cause associations with either SF-12 PCS or QoL to become significant.

Conclusions

Traffic exposure was associated with decreased lung function in adults with asthma.

Key words: Asthma, traffic, lung function, health status

Abbreviations used: Asthma QoL, Marks Asthma Quality of Life questionnaire, BMI, Body mass index, GIS, Geographic information system, QoL, Quality of life, SES, Socioeconomic status, SF-12 PCS, Physical Component Scale of the 12-item Short Form

 

 Supported by grant #R01 ES 10906 to P.D.B. from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

 Disclosure of potential conflict of interest: J. R. Balmes receives grant support from the National Institutes of Health, the Flight Attendants Medical Research Institute (FAMRI), the California Air Resource Board, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and has provided legal consultation on air pollution health effects for the California Department of Justice. G. Earnest has received grant support from the National Institutes of Health. P. P. Katz has received grant support from the National Institutes of Health. E. H. Yelin has received grant support from the National Institutes of Health. M. D. Eisner has received grant support from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/National Institutes of Health, the FAMRI, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences/National Institutes of Health, and Genentech and has provided legal consultation/expert witness testimony in cases related to pulmonary hypertension and reactive airways dysfunction syndrome. F. Lurmann has received grant support from the University of California—Berkeley, the University of California—San Francisco, California State University—Fullerton, and the University of Southern California. P. D. Blanc receives grant support from the National Institutes of Health and FAMRI and has provided legal consultation/expert witness testimony in cases related to waterproofing inhalation injury. The rest of the authors have declared that they have no conflict of interest.

PII: S0091-6749(08)02360-9

doi:10.1016/j.jaci.2008.10.062

The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology
Volume 123, Issue 3 , Pages 626-631, March 2009

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