Study To Examine Asthma in Boston

Harvard researchers are teaming up with Boston’s biggest landlord—the Boston Housing Authority (BHA)—to collaborate on a long-term study on reducing unsanitary conditions that cause high rates of asthma in inner-city Boston.

The study aims to improve the health of both children and adults living in housing where indoor environmental conditions are less than ideal, said Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) Professor John D. “Jack” Spengler, one of the directors of the study.

“The high rate of asthma follows a pattern that suggest poor housing is a factor,” said Spengler, who is Yamaguchi professor of environmental health and human habitation.

Asthma-inducing agents include dust mites, cockroaches, molds, rodents, pet dander and indoor air pollution. Other stimulants include cigarette smoke, exercise, pollen and hygiene, according to the HSPH website.

Spengler said that as part of the study, the BHA will intervene to improve conditions in its publicly owned houses.

Industrial strength cleaning—particularly aggressive methods rarely used in residential space—will be used to remove molds, cockroaches and other allergens and pesticides from the housing, according to Spengler.

Other improvements will include new air-cleaning equipment, newly designed mattresses with allergy reducing fiber, systematic pest management and new ventilation systems in the housing.

Spengler said the study has recruited 60 families with asthmatic children who live in the Franklin Hill public housing development in Dorchester.

Surveyors—residents of Franklin Hill who were hired and trained last year—will collect health data from the families before and after improvements are made to housing conditions.

Spengler hopes the project will stimulate collaboration between different institutions in the city, such as universities and public health agencies.

Besides Harvard researchers, Boston University School of Public Health and Tufts School of Medicine faculty are also helping to direct the study.

“This is a different way of doing science,” Spengler said. “This consensus project brings a new way of thinking that most academics don’t think about.”

He said that conventionally, asthma is treated by prescribing medication, which does not address the underlying environmental causes of the disease.

“The way that society is structured, public money goes separately to health care and public housing,” Spengler said.

Spengler said that public health prevention needs to be addressed through new designs of public housing.

BHA has already initiated some of the capital improvements and maintenance programs that will be studied, and BHA spokesperson Kate Bennett said that the outcome of this study will “define new procedures and protocols that specifically address resident health.”

Tenants have given positive feedback for the project’s potential to improve the quality of life, according to Bennett.

Douglas M. Brugge, an assistant professor at the Tufts School of Medicine and co-director of the study, commented that this is a rare but extraordinary example of collaboration of both academia and community services.

“There is definitely room [for collaboration] within the natural competition for grants [among schools],” said Brugge.

“It is important that this study is not only between universities but also city agencies and community groups.”

Community education is also part of the study, its leaders say. For many of thhe tenants who were trained as surveyors, this project brought them into the work force and taught them to identify household agents that can trigger asthma.

The other collaborators in the project include the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC), South Boston Community Health Center and several other community groups and commercial sponsors.

Margaret Reed, Director of the BPHC’s Asthma Prevention and Control Program, said the commission has already devoted significant resources to protect the public health of the residents of Boston, with special attention to vulnerable populations in inner-city communities.

The project received nearly $2 million in funding from the Department of Housing Urban Development, the Boston Foundation, and the Jesse B. Cox Charitable Trust.