TY - JOUR
T1 - Evaluation of short-term health effects among rural women and reduction in household air pollution due to improved cooking stoves
T2 - quasi experimental study
AU - Jamali, Tanzil
AU - Fatmi, Zafar
AU - Shahid, Afshan
AU - Khoso, Aneeta
AU - Kadir, Muhammad Masood
AU - Sathiakumar, Nalini
N1 - Funding Information:
The second program was located in the villages of Changa Manga, district Kasur of Punjab province of Pakistan. Punjab is the largest province in terms of population, with an area of 79,284 mi (Britannica’s ). In district Kasur, 97.6% of households use biomass fuel for cooking. In April–June, the average temperature reached 45 °C, while in October–March, the temperature falls below 4 °C. The average annual rainfall ranges between 96-cm in submountain region to 46 cm in the plains (Government of Pakistan ). With the support of United Nations Development Program (UNDP), a local NGO had introduced fuel-efficient stoves in the villages of Changa Manga, a man-made forest area of district Kasur (GEF Small Grants Program ). The program was supported by UNDP and the local NGO from 1994 to 2009. During the months of March 2014, with the help of NGO, 134 new improved stoves were installed in three villages of Changa Manga: Hunjra e Kalan, Hunjra e Khurd, and Kot Hassan Mohammad. These stoves were installed free of cost. 2
Funding Information:
We are thankful to Ms. Zakia Tabassum and Mr. Mohammad Jamil for the logistic support for the project and Mr. Nayab Ali Shah and Ms. Rukhsana Sabir for data collection and management. The work was supported by Supplementary grant of International Training and Research in Environmental and Occupational Health (no. 3D43TW005750-10S1) from the Fogarty International Centre at the National Institute of Health, awarded to University of Alabama at Birmingham, AL, USA.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017, Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.
PY - 2017/9/1
Y1 - 2017/9/1
N2 - An improved efficient stove is the mainstay intervention to reduce household air pollution (HAP) associated with biomass fuel use. It potentially addresses the adverse health outcomes by reducing smoke exposure, fuel consumption, and cooking time. This study evaluated two stove intervention programs and compared them for health effects (respiratory and eye symptoms, lung function, blood pressure and burns) among women who were the main cook of the household. A total of 83 and 134 improved and 209 and 179 traditional stoves in Sindh and Punjab provinces of Pakistan, respectively, were evaluated after 3 months of installation, during June to September, 2014. Twenty-four-hour particulate matter (<2.5 μm) (PM2.5) and carbon monoxide (CO) levels were measured in the kitchens in a subsample (n = 40). Multivariate logistic regression and general linear model were used to determine the health impact of improved stoves among women. PM2.5 and CO levels were significantly less in improved stove kitchens. Among women in Sindh program, significantly less cough (aRR 0.27, CI 0.20, 0.38), phlegm (aRR 0.27, CI 0.18, 0.40), shortness of breath (aRR 0.16, CI 0.11, 0.22), chest tightness (aRR 0.23, CI 0.17, 0.31), attack of asthma (aRR 0.33, CI 0.22, 0.49) (p < 0.001), sandy eyes (aRR 0.63, CI 0.47, 0.97), and itching in eyes (aRR 0.62, CI 0.41, 0.95 (p < 0.050) were present. While in Punjab program, risk reduction for phlegm (aRR 0.60, CI 0.45, 0.81) and protection from burns (aRR 0.56, CI 0.34, 0.91) were observed among women. Mean peak expiratory flow was higher among women using improved stoves in Sindh program (31.58, CI 17.90, 45.25 L/min) only. Overall, the positive health impact was greater among those women using closed kitchens. Interventions with improved stoves can have favorable health impact among women. However, variations in health gains were noted among the two programs, as well as greater impact among women using closed kitchen.
AB - An improved efficient stove is the mainstay intervention to reduce household air pollution (HAP) associated with biomass fuel use. It potentially addresses the adverse health outcomes by reducing smoke exposure, fuel consumption, and cooking time. This study evaluated two stove intervention programs and compared them for health effects (respiratory and eye symptoms, lung function, blood pressure and burns) among women who were the main cook of the household. A total of 83 and 134 improved and 209 and 179 traditional stoves in Sindh and Punjab provinces of Pakistan, respectively, were evaluated after 3 months of installation, during June to September, 2014. Twenty-four-hour particulate matter (<2.5 μm) (PM2.5) and carbon monoxide (CO) levels were measured in the kitchens in a subsample (n = 40). Multivariate logistic regression and general linear model were used to determine the health impact of improved stoves among women. PM2.5 and CO levels were significantly less in improved stove kitchens. Among women in Sindh program, significantly less cough (aRR 0.27, CI 0.20, 0.38), phlegm (aRR 0.27, CI 0.18, 0.40), shortness of breath (aRR 0.16, CI 0.11, 0.22), chest tightness (aRR 0.23, CI 0.17, 0.31), attack of asthma (aRR 0.33, CI 0.22, 0.49) (p < 0.001), sandy eyes (aRR 0.63, CI 0.47, 0.97), and itching in eyes (aRR 0.62, CI 0.41, 0.95 (p < 0.050) were present. While in Punjab program, risk reduction for phlegm (aRR 0.60, CI 0.45, 0.81) and protection from burns (aRR 0.56, CI 0.34, 0.91) were observed among women. Mean peak expiratory flow was higher among women using improved stoves in Sindh program (31.58, CI 17.90, 45.25 L/min) only. Overall, the positive health impact was greater among those women using closed kitchens. Interventions with improved stoves can have favorable health impact among women. However, variations in health gains were noted among the two programs, as well as greater impact among women using closed kitchen.
KW - Health impact
KW - Intervention
KW - Pakistan
KW - Stove
KW - Women
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85020076294&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s11869-017-0481-0
DO - 10.1007/s11869-017-0481-0
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85020076294
SN - 1873-9318
VL - 10
SP - 809
EP - 819
JO - Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health
JF - Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health
IS - 7
ER -