Abstract: Objective To investigate the association between residential environmental factors and the prevalence of respiratory diseases among middle school students in the Bao'an District of Shenzhen. Methods A stratified random cluster sampling method was employed to select middle school students aged 13-17 years in the Bao'an District, Shenzhen. A structured questionnaire was administered to collect data on demographic characteristics and various residential environmental factors. The primary outcome, the prevalence of common respiratory diseases within the past year-including recurrent respiratory tract infections, pneumonia, tracheitis/bronchitis, and allergic rhinitis-was determined based on self-report. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was utilized to examine the associations between specific residential environmental factors and the different respiratory diseases. Results A total of 960 students were included in the final analysis, with a mean age of (14.8±1.79) years; 554 (57.7%) were male. The overall self-reported prevalence of any respiratory disease in the past year was 26.04% (n=250). The multivariable logistic regression analysis indicated that the use of household mosquito repellents was associated with an increased risk of overall respiratory diseases (OR=1.59, 95% CI: 1.09-2.30). Furthermore, the recent acquisition of large furniture (OR=2.41, 95% CI: 1.24-4.60) and the use of mosquito repellents (OR=2.05, 95% CI: 1.01-4.11) were positively correlated with the prevalence of recurrent respiratory tract infections. The use of mosquito repellents was also found to increase the likelihood of tracheitis (OR=1.95, 95% CI: 1.01-3.66, P<0.05). Conclusions The prevalence of respiratory diseases among adolescents appears to be associated with exposure to pollutants within the residential environment. These findings suggest that targeted improvements to the quality of the living environment are of significant importance for the prevention and control of common respiratory diseases in this population.

Key words: Middle school students, Respiratory diseases, Recurrent respiratory tract infections, Pneumonia, Tracheitis, Allergic rhinitis