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Table 1 Socio demographic characteristics of the study population at baseline

From: Effect of household air pollution due to solid fuel combustion on childhood respiratory diseases in a semi urban population in Sri Lanka

Characteristic

High exposure groupa

Low exposure groupb

P-value

Sex

 Male

85 (54.1)

57 (54.3)

0.541

 Female

72 (45.9)

48 (45.7)

Age group

 Up to 1 year

5 (3.3)

4 (3.9)

0.365

 1.01-2 years

26 (16.9)

28 (27.5)

 2.01–3 years

53 (34.5)

29 (28.4)

 3.01–4 years

37 (24.2)

22 (21.6)

 4.01–5 years

32 (21.1)

19 (18.6)

Ethnicity

 Sinhala

149 (95.5)

96 (90.5)

0.179

 Other

7 (4.5)

10 (9.5)

Father’s education

 Up to O/L*

112 (72.2)

63 (60.0)

0.027

 Above O/L

43 (27.8)

42 (40.0)

Mother’s education

 Up to O/L

106 (68.4)

56 (53.3)

0.010

 Above O/L

49 (31.6)

49 (46.7)

Family income

 Up to SLR 20,000

42 (27.1)

16 (15.2)

0.017

 More than SLR 20,000

113 (72.9)

89 (84.8)

Mother’s employment

 Yes

2 (1.3)

4 (4.0)

0.175

 No

147 (98.7)

95 (96.0)

Presence of industries causing air pollution in vicinity of house

 Yes

32 (21.3)

18 (17.1)

0.253

 No

118 (78.7)

87 (82.9)

Child’s room

 Directly opens to kitchen

27 (17.8)

17 (17.7)

0.567

 Not directly opened to kitchen

125 (82.2)

79 (82.3)

Having a chimney

 Yes

79 (58.9)

36 (41.8)

0.010

 No

55 (41.1)

50 (58.2)

Place of cooking

 Inside the living area

7 (4.8)

4 (4.2)

0.528

 Outside the living area

136 (95.2)

92 (95.8)

Cooking frequency

 Up to 10 times per week

110 (75.8)

68 (71.5)

0.276

 Equal to or greater than 10 times per week

35 (24.2)

27 (28.5)

Duration of cooking

 Up to 2.5 h per day

70 (46.7)

67 (67.0)

0.001

 Greater than 2.5 h per day

80 (53.3)

33 (33.0)

Ventilation

 Window area > 1/7 of floor area

122 (90.4)

87 (95.6)

0.141

 Window area < 1/7 of floor area

13 (9.6)

4 (4.4)

Either one of the parents having asthma

 Yes

77 (52.0)

43 (44.7)

0.165

 No

71 (48.0)

53 (55.3)

Having pets

 Yes

48 (32.0)

36 (36.7)

0.263

 No

102 (68.0)

62 (63.3)

Having a sibling

 Yes

94 (60.6)

48 (45.7)

0.012

 No

61 (39.4)

57 (54.3)

Attending a Preschool

 Yes

60 (39.7)

41 (39.8)

0.509

 No

91 (60.3)

62 (60.2)

Having a smoker at home

 Yes

39 (25.5)

24 (23.1)

0.386

 No

114 (74.5)

80 (76.9)

  1. *O/L Ordinary level exam, SLR refers to Sri Lankan Rupees (1 USD ~ 130 SLR at time of study)
  2. aChildren exposed to biomass and kerosene as the principal cooking fuel
  3. bChildren exposed to LPG and electricity as thee principal cooking fuel