Browsing by Author "Pedro, Catarina"
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- Environment and Health in Children Day Care CentresPublication . Neuparth, Nuno; Papoila, Ana Luísa; Aelenei, Daniel; Cano, Manuela; Paixão, Paulo; Viegas, João; Martins, Pedro; Araújo Martins, José; Leiria Pinto, Paula; Caires, Iolanda; Pedro, Catarina; Nogueira, Susana; Mendes, Ana; Aguiar, Fátima; Teixeira, João Paulo; Proença, Carmo; Piedade, Cátia; Santos, Madalena; Silvestre, Maria José; Brum, Laura; Nunes, Baltazar; Guiomar, Raquel; Curran, Martin D.; Carvalho, Ana; Marques, Teresa; Virella, Daniel; Alves, Marta; Marques, João; Rosado-Pinto, José; Neuparth, Nuno; Aelenei,Daniel; Caires, Iolanda; Teixeira, João Paulo; Viegas, João; Cano, Manuela; Pinto, Paula LeiriaThis project addresses a set of common clinical problems in the context of children attending day care centres. It is common sense that children get sick more often as soon as they start attending a day care centre on a daily basis and this is particularly true for some groups at risk, as wheezing infants and wheezing pre-school children. Concerning this, some questions remain unclear: 1. The role of indoor air quality - what is the health impact of indoor air environment (including indoor pollutants, house dust mite, temperature and humidity) in wheezing children? 2. The role of virus infections - We don’t know the real role of virus infections in respiratory conditions at day care centre level. There is a lack of information concerning how indoor air environment influence virus infections. 3. The role of building ventilation - what is the impact of building ventilation in the health of wheezing and non-wheezing children? How is ventilation affecting indoor air quality? How is ventilation of day care centres affected by the structure of the buildings? 4. Social impact of this study - what should be the recommendations to improve IAQ? What is new in this project is the collaboration of a health team (medical doctors and other health professionals) with environment specialists, mechanical, civil engineers, epidemiologists and statisticians.
- Factores de Risco para sibilância: resultados da Fase1 do Projecto "Ambiente e Saúde em Creches e Infantários" (ENVIRH)Publication . Martins, Pedro; Papoila, Ana Luísa; Marques, João; Caires, Iolanda; Martins, José; Pedro, Catarina; Manilha, Maria do Carmo; Cano, Manuela; Silva, Ana Sofia; Aelenei, Daniel; Nogueira, Susana; Paixão, João Paulo; Teixeira, João Paulo; Viegas, João; Rosado-Pinto, José; Leiria-Pinto, Paula; Neuparth, NunoMuitas crianças com idade inferior a 6 anos apresentam sibilância no decurso de infecções respiratórias. O projecto ENVIRH tem como parte integrante dos seus objectivos identificar factores de risco para sibilância relacionados com as características construtivas / qualidade do ar interior das creches e infantários. Métodos: No âmbito do Projecto ENVIRH foram seleccionadas aleatoriamente 46 Instituições Particulares de Solidariedade Social (IPSS) das cidades de Lisboa e Porto, estratificadas por freguesia e número de alunos. As escolas seleccionadas corresponderam a metade das IPSS destas duas cidades. Em Outubro de 2010 foi entregue aos pais de todas as crianças uma versão resumida do questionário do estudo ISAAC (n=5161). Efectuou-se no mesmo período uma avaliação sumária das características construtivas e da qualidade do ar de todas as escolas participantes. Para a análise dos dados foram utilizadas Equações de Estimação Generalizadas (GEE), de forma considerar a estrutura de correlação dos indivíduos de cada IPSS. Resultados: Foram devolvidos 3185 questionários. A idade média foi de 3.1 ± 1.5 anos, sendo 50.5% do sexo masculino. A prevalência reportada de sibilância nos 12 meses anteriores foi de 27.5% (IC 95%: 25.9% - 29.0%). Das diversas varáveis consideradas - idade, sexo, escolaridade dos pais, tabagismo passivo, existência de irmãos mais velhos, antecedentes de eczema na criança, antecedentes de asma ou rinite nos pais, idade e área da IPSS, número de alunos, existência de bolores na instituição, temperatura, humidade relativa e concentração de CO2 médias do ar interior durante o período de ocupação - somente persistiram significativas na análise multivariável (p<0.05) a idade (OR: 0.74; IC 95: 0.70 - 0.78; p<0.001), antecedentes de eczema (OR: 1.35; IC 95: 1.14 - 1.60; p<0.001), e antecedentes de asma ou rinite nos pais (OR: 1.99; IC 95: 1.67 - 2.38; p<0.001). Um aumento médio de 100 ppm de CO2 também se associou com sibilância nos 12 meses anteriores (OR: 1.02; IC 95: 1.01 - 1.03; p=0.008). Conclusão: Tratando-se a concentração de CO2 um marcador indirecto da ventilação e da qualidade do ar interior, os resultados alcançados sugerem a necessidade de introduzir melhorias nestes parâmetros, ao nível das creches e infantários, dado existir uma associação muito significativa das concentrações de CO2 com sibilância.
- Indoor Air Quality in Portuguese Day Care Centers - ENVIRH ProjectPublication . Cano, Manuela; Nogueira, Susana; Papoila, Ana Luísa; Aguiar, Fátima; Martins, Pedro; Marques, João; Caires, Iolanda; Martins, José; Pedro, Catarina; Paixão, Paulo; Rosado-Pinto, José; Leiria-Pinto, Paula; Aelenei, Daniel; Mendes, Ana; Teixeira, João Paulo; Proença, Carmo; Neuparth, NunoThis paper describes field measurements of indoor air quality (IAQ) parameters, performed in 19 Portuguese Children Day Care Centers (CDCC) during the springtime of 2011 and aims to characterize the indoor environment. The results demonstrate an association between carbon dioxide and bacterial concentrations, which in turn are affected by the number of children present in each classroom. Indoor PM10 concentrations were higher than outdoor levels (I/O ratio>1) and was also found statistically significant association between PM10 concentrations and the type of floor covering materials. These results provide evidence that IAQ is inadequate and, as a consequence, human source contaminants such as bacteria and carbon dioxide accumulate indoors. This study suggests that it is necessary to improve ventilation in order to achieve a healthier indoor environment.
- Relationship between nitrate concentration in exhaled breath condensate and indoor air quality - ENVIRH studyPublication . Caires, Iolanda; Martins, Pedro; Marques, José; Belo, Joana; Pedro, Catarina; Cano, Manuela; Neuparth, NunoINTRODUCTION: Children spend a significant time of their days indoors, making it more susceptible to respiratory problems. Studies evaluating the relations between individual exposure to indoor pollutants and airways behavior are scarce. The evaluation of metabolites of nitric oxide (NO), namely nitrates (NO3-) in exhaled breath condensate (EBC), is a good biomarker of airways inflammation. Objective: Evaluate the relationship between the NO3- concentration in EBC of children attending children day care centers and total volatile organic compounds (VOCs) assessed on those institutions. METHODOLOGY: At the 2nd phase of ENVIRH project, samplings of EBC were collected, using a disposable device (RTube), from a group of children in preschool age, attending day care centers within the city of Lisbon. After sampling collection, the samples were frozen at -40°C. For the NO3- measure in the EBC, a chemiluminescence analyzer (Sievers 280i NOATM) was used. From the IAQ analyzed parameters, we highlight the PM10, VOCs, mites, fungi, bacteria, temperature and relative humidity. For data analysis, two logistic random-intercept models were used. RESULTS: We collected 100 samples of EBC in children at preschool age, with a mean age of 5.0±0.6 years. 57% of the subjects were male. The average occupancy of school rooms was 19.73±3.97 children. The NO3- in EBC mean values were 4.42±1.60 μmol and VOCs median values were 200 μg/m3 (P25-P75: 82-436 μg/m3). When analyzing the association between IAQ parameters and bronchial inflammation, it was only found an association between VOCs and NO3-: regression coefficient ( ) = 0.32, IC 95%: 0.11 to 0.53, p=0.003. Conclusion: At this study, VOCs were the only IAQ parameter significantly associated with NO3- in EBC, as biomarker of bronchial inflammation. Grant from Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia – ENVIRH Project PTDC/SAUESA/ 100275/2008.
- Volatile organic compounds in day care centers constitute a risk factor for absence due to weezingPublication . Carreiro-Martins, Pedro; Papoila, Ana Luísa; Alves, Marta; Caires, Iolanda; Pedro, Catarina; Manilha, Maria do Carmo; Cano, Maria Manuela; Teixeira, João Paulo; Virella, Daniel; Leiria-Pinto, Paula; Rosado-Pinto, José; Neuparth, Nuno