Housing Characteristics, Household Environmental Exposures, and Respiratory Morbidity Among Adults in Ibadan, Southwest Nigeria

Background: Housing conditions and household activities can influence respiratory health through ventilation, moisture, smoke, crowding, and other residential exposures. This study examined housing characteristics and occupant activities associated with respiratory morbidity among adults in Ibadan, Nigeria.

Methods: A cross-sectional study included 215 adults in Ibadan South-West Local Government Area. An interviewer-administered questionnaire adapted from the European Community Respiratory Health Survey and a housing walkthrough checklist were used to assess housing conditions, household exposures, occupant activities, and self-reported respiratory morbidity. Associations were examined using chi-square tests and logistic regression.

Results: Overall, 134 participants (62.3%) had respiratory morbidity. Eighteen percent of households lacked proper ventilation, 17.2% reported outdoor smoke, 23.3% reported dampness, 74.9% reported dust, and 17.7% were overcrowded. Respiratory morbidity was more frequent among urban than rural residents (70.4% vs. 54.2%, p = .014), among those reporting outdoor smoke (78.4% vs. 59.0%, p = .027), and varied by indoor clothes-drying frequency (p = .001). Wall, roof, and floor materials, cooking fuel, overcrowding, and cooking location were not significantly associated with respiratory morbidity. Multivariable estimates were imprecise and their confidence intervals included the null.

Conclusion: Selected residential exposures and household practices were associated with respiratory morbidity in bivariate analyses, but independent associations were not clearly demonstrated. Improving ventilation, moisture control, and smoke exposure prevention remains relevant to healthy housing.