This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.

In-home allergen test inspires parents to adopt dust mite reducing behaviors

Parents of children with asthma who used commercially available in-home allergen test kits, along with educational materials, had consistently reduced levels of dust mite allergens in their home, according to recently published data.

“Parents of asthmatic children have an extra-long list of things to do to keep their kids healthy. We wanted to see if having an easy-to-use kit, where parents could actually monitor allergen levels, would help parents start and maintain allergen reduction strategies, and our results suggest that it actually did,” Paivi Salo, PhD, researcher, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, said in a press release. 

Salo and colleagues conducted a randomized controlled trial of 60 households to assess whether in-home test kits, which measure dust mite allergen levels, in conjunction with educational materials regarding allergen reduction would reduce dust mite levels in the home. Participating households, which included dust-mite sensitive children aged 5 to 15 years, were randomly assigned to receive in-home tests and educational materials (n = 30) or just educational materials (n=30), at 1, 2, 5 and 8 months.

Results demonstrated that compared with the control households, levels of dust mite allergens were significantly reduced in children’s bedroom and living room floors.

Reductions in allergen concentrations were inconsistent between rooms in the household, however, overall reductions were significant in the intervention households during the study, according to the researchers.

When initial test results indicated dust-mite allergens were high, 68% of parents who used the in-home kits reported being ‘surprised’ or ‘somewhat surprised’, according to researchers. Compared with parents who were not surprised by their initial results, ‘surprised’ parents reported that their test results motivated them to adopt dust mite reduction behaviors.

By the end of the study period, 63% of intervention households reported using allergen-proof pillow covers and 55% were using allergen-proof mattresses, compared with only 33% and 32%, respectively, in the control group.

The researchers noted that future studies should focus on what motivates asthmatic patients to engage in allergen reducing behaviors.

“This is the first study to demonstrate that the use of an in-home test kit can lead to a reduction in dust mite allergen levels in the home. It’s important to know what motivates people to adapt certain behaviors or attitudes, so we can develop more effective asthma prevention strategies,” Darryl Zeldin, MD, scientific director, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, said in the release. – by Casey Hower

Disclosures: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.