Impact of overcrowding on paediatric health problems in Chandigarh, India

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To determine the relationship between overcrowding and acute respiratory infections (ART) and diarrhoea in children. DESIGN, SETTING AND METHODS: A cross-sectional analytical study was conducted at the Urban Health Training Centre, Indira Colony, and Chandigarh, India in December 2004. All children under the age of 2 years attending the immunization clinic were recruited into the study. An interviewer schedule was used to collect data. Overcrowding, ARI and diarrhoea were defined using standard WHO definitions. RESULTS: Sixty children were recruited into the study. Mean age was 5.95 months. Thirty-three (55%) were boys. Forty-eight (80%) children belonged to the lowest social class. Thirty-five (58.3%) houses had only a single room and 39 (65%) households were overcrowded. Twenty-one (35%) children were exposed to passive smoking. Incidences of ARI and diarrhea during the past one month were 61.7% and 35% respectively. Children from overcrowded houses had significantly higher incidence of ARI compared to children from non-overcrowded houses (x2=4.5, p<0.05) but there was no such relationship with the incidence of diarrhoea (x2==1.3, p>0.05). There was no significant association between the incidence of ARI and passive smoking (x2= 1.239, p>0.05). CONCLUSION: Sixty-five percent of households in Indira Colony, Chandigarh are overcrowded. The study identified a significant association between overcrowding and the incidence of ARI but not with the incidence of diarrhoea.