Exposure to different residential indoor characteristics during childhood and asthma in adolescence: a latent class analysis of the Danish National Birth Cohort

Abstract Background Many residential indoor environments may have an impact on children’s respiratory health. Objectives The aims of this study were to identify latent classes of children from the Danish National Birth Cohort (DNBC) who share similar patterns of exposure to indoor home characteristics, and to examine the association between membership in the latent classes and asthma in adolescence. Methods We included data on residential indoor characteristics of offspring from the DNBC whose mothers had responded to the child’s 11-year follow-up and who had data on asthma from the 18-year follow-up. Number of classes and associations were estimated using latent class analysis. To account for sample selection, we applied inverse probability weighting. Results Our final model included five latent classes. The probability of current asthma at 18 years was highest among individuals in class one with higher clustering on household dampness (9, 95%CI 0.06–0.13). Individuals in class four (with higher clustering on pets ownership and living in a farm) had a lower risk of current asthma at age 18 compared to individuals in class one (with higher clustering on household dampness) (OR 0.53 (95%CI 0.32–0.88), p = .01). Conclusion Our findings suggest that, in a high-income country such as Denmark, groups of adolescents growing up in homes with mold and moisture during mid-childhood might be at increased risk of current asthma at age 18. Adolescents who grew-up in a farmhouse and who were exposed to pets seem less likely to suffer from asthma by age 18.