| dc.description.abstract | Abstract
Background: Globally, indoor air pollution from various forms of pollutants is an increasing problem. The most common form of indoor air pollution is that caused by inefficient burning of solid and fossil fuels like wood, charcoal and kerosene in indoor environments. Indoor air pollution is therefore a significant problem particularly in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) including Uganda where use of such solid fuels is most common. There is however little attention drawn to understanding the problem specifically in Uganda to come up with tailor-made solutions.
Objectives: To assess risk factors for indoor air pollution exposure in households in Bulamu ward, Kasangati town council, Wakiso district so as to provide information that could be used to make proper decisions and design measures to reduce indoor air pollution.
Methodology: A cross sectional study was carried out among 96 households in Bulamu ward, Kasangati town council, Wakiso district. From the 5 villages within the ward, 1 was randomly selected. The 96 households were then selected from the village by systematic sampling applying a sampling interval of 21 households obtained by dividing the sum of households in the ward by the calculated sample size. Data was then collected using a researcher-administered questionnaire by means of Epi-collect 5 software with a mobile phone. The data was analyzed using STATA 2013 software and presented in various forms including graphs and tables.
Results: The study found the most known sources of indoor air pollution as solid-fuel smoke 99.0% (95/96), dust 89.6% (86/96) and indoor smoking 60.4% (58/96). The most mentioned potential health effects due to indoor air pollution were cough/cold 79.2% (76/96), difficulty in breathing 59.4% (57/96) and lung complications 53.1% (51/96). The most suggested measures against indoor air pollution were cooking outdoors 95.8% (92/96) and stopping indoor smoking 70.83% (68/96). The majority of households, 87.5% (84/96) used charcoal for cooking and 11.5% (11/96) of the respondents cooked inside their houses. Over half of the respondents, 54.2% (52/96) lived in a house with only one window and only 30.2% (29/96) houses had windows that allowed cross or through ventilation.
Conclusion: There was considerable knowledge on common sources, potential health effects and measures to reduce indoor air pollution which can be used as a basis for successful interventions against the problem. | en_US |
