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No associations found between cooking/heating sources, dermatitis

Home heating and cooking appliances, whether run by gas, electricity or biomass sources, failed to display any statistically significant associations with atopic dermatitis among a pediatric population, according to recent study data.

Investigators conducted a cross-sectional population-based survey of 21,355 children, aged 6 to 7 years, across eight centers in three regions of Spain to determine associations between atopic dermatitis (AD) and domestic heating/cooking devices. The investigation, part of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood phase 3 trial, measured environmental risk factors and AD prevalence via a questionnaire asking the types of heating and cooking systems used at the children’s homes. Researchers determined crude ORs and adjusted ORs, along with logistic regression analyses, for each variable.

Six percent of the overall cohort reported having AD (n=1,276), and obese children displayed the greatest prevalence of AD with a cOR of 1.34 (95% CI, 1.14-1.58). Electric cooking appliances showed a significant cOR of 1.14 (95% CI, 1.01.-1.27) while biomass sources had the highest cORs for heating and cooking (cOR=1.17; 95% CI, 0.98-1.39 and cOR=1.66; 95% CI, 0.80-3.45, respectively).

When researchers used logistic regression that included all confounder variables such as sex, BMI, mother’s educational level, number of siblings, parents’ smoking habits, geographical area and truck traffic outside of homes, none of the energy variables was statistically significant. Only the use of electric heating showed an aOR that neared significance (aOR=1.14; 95% CI, 0.99-1.31).

“The present study did not show evidence of a clear association between the use of any particular domestic device for heating or cooking purposes and the presence of AD … ,” the researchers wrote. “The risk assessment of indoor environment constitutes a highly complex issue, and its conclusions should be carefully regarded, taking into account specific characteristics of the targeted population.”