Association of Area Socioeconomic Status with Lung Function in Taiwanese Children

• Main Authors: Yi-Fan Wu, 吳逸帆
• Other Authors: Wei-Chu Chie
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2010
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/34491061705583827239

碩士 === 國立臺灣大學 === 預防醫學研究所 === 98 === Objective：Our study was carried out to investigate the association of area socio- economic status (SES) with lung function, as measured by forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1, ml), forced vital capacity (FVC, ml), Maximal mid-expiratory flow (MMF, ml/sec) and peak expiratory flow (PEF, ml/sec). Method：Participants were from Taiwan Children Health Study (TCHS): 3,994 7th grade students were recruited from 14 different communities in Taiwan. SES predictors, all collected from Taiwan Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, were divided into four dimensions: population, occupation, education and income. Multi- level modeling techniques (Hierarchical linear model, HLM) examined the effects of area SES on lung function, after accounting for area air pollution index and individual SES (parents’ educational level and family income). Results：High area tax per person was independently associated with decreased lung function. The coefficients (β) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for log transformation of area tax per person in HLM were -47.8 (95% CI: -80.9 to -14.8) in FEV1, -43.8 (95%CI: -75.2 to -12.5) in FVC, -93.4 (95%CI: -179.3 to -7.5) in MMF and -203.2 (95% CI: -349.1 to -57.2) in PEF. Though some predictors’ effects were not statistically significant, all the other SES predictors’ influences were in the same direction and showed greater effects in male gender. In addition, the interaction of area tax per person with individual parental educational level was significant on PEF, which meant that children with high parental educational level were more susceptible (β and 95% CI for log transformation of area tax per person in HLM: -314.6 and -467.8 to -161.4). Conclusion：The results of our study provided evidence of inverse association between high area SES and lung function in Taiwanese children.