Could Cockroach Elimination Improve Asthma Outcomes?
A recent study found that the elimination of cockroaches through an inexpensive, widely-available method was associated with improvements in asthma outcomes in inner city children.
“Exposure to cockroaches is an important asthma trigger, particularly for children with asthma living in inner cities. Integrated pest management is the recommended approach to cockroach abatement; however, it is costly and difficult to implement. The impact of reducing cockroach exposure on asthma outcomes is not known,” the researchers wrote.
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To assess the effectiveness of single intervention cockroach elimination and its impact on asthma outcomes, researchers conducted a randomized controlled trial in New Orleans including 102 children aged 5 to 17 with moderate to severe asthma. Single intervention, insecticidal bait was used to reduce cockroach exposure in homes. The homes were visited 6 times during the study to check for infestations of cockroaches, and asthma symptoms in children were assessed every 2 months.
After adjustments were made, the researchers’ findings showed that children in control homes had more asthma symptoms, unscheduled health care visits, and a higher portion had FEV1 of less than 80% predicted than children in intervention homes.
The study demonstrated that strategic placement of insecticidal bait resulted in sustained cockroach elimination in homes for over 12 months, and was associated with improved asthma outcomes in children.
“This single intervention may be an alternative to multifaceted interventions currently recommended to improve asthma morbidity,” the researchers concluded.
—Melissa Weiss
Reference:
Rabito FA, Carlson JC, He H, Werthmann D, and Schal C. A single intervention for cockroach control reduceds cockroach exposure and asthma morbidity in children [published online January 17, 2016]. The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. doi:10.1016/j.jaci.2016.10.019.