3.2. Health outcomes and environmental factors in the first 2 years and in
the last year
During the first 2 years of life, rhinitis symptom was the most common
symptom (21.0%), followed by wheeze (16.7%) and eczema
(10.7%). When comparing symptoms the last year with the first
2 years of life, rhinitis symptom had increased up to 42.3%, wheeze
had increased up to 25.1% while eczema had decreased to 5.8%. All
these changeswere statistically significant (Table 1). Themost common
air quality perception concerning the home where the child had spent
the first 2 years of lifewas the sensation of air dryness (43.3%), followed
by stuffy odor (29.4%) and moldy odor (8.4%). Over half of families
(54.8%) had bought new furniture/decoration during this time period
and in more than half of the homes (54.7%) at least one parent was a
smoker. Most of the smokers were fathers, only 1.1% of the mother
were smokers. A total of 16.8% of the homes where the child had
spent the first 2 years of life had visible mold and 47.5% had window
pane condensation in winter season. When comparing reports on the
home environment the last year with the first 2 years of life, there
was a significant increase of reports on air dryness, stuffy odor and
exposure to ETS from parental smoking (Table 1).