Retrofitting home insulation reduces incidence and severity of chronic respiratory disease
Open accessAbstract
To assess whether retrofitting home insulation can reduce the risk of respiratory disease incidence and exacerbation, a retrospective cohort study was undertaken using linked data from a national intervention program. The study population was made up of 1 004 795 residents from 205 001 New Zealand houses that received an insulation subsidy though a national Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority program. A difference-in-difference model compared changes in the number of prescriptions dispensed for respiratory illness post- insulation to a control population over the same timeframe. New prescribing of chronic respiratory disease medication at follow-up was used to compare incidence risk ratios between intervention and control groups. Chronic respiratory disease incidence was significantly lower in the intervention group at follow-up: odds ratio 0.90 (95% CI: 0.86-0.94). There was also a 4% reduction in medication dispensed for treating exacerbations of chronic respiratory disease symptoms in the intervention group compared with the control group: relative rate ratio (RRR) 0.96 (95% CI: 0.96-0.97). There was no change in medication dispensed to prevent symptoms of chronic respiratory disease RRR: 1,00 (95% CI: 0.99-1.00). These findings support home insulation interventions as a means of improving respiratory health outcomes.
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A second quasi-experimental evaluation of the Warm-up NZ Program found that admission rates were significantly lower in the intervention population, with lower hospital admission rates among Pacific peoples and for people over 65 years of age for asthma, cardiovascular disease, and ischemic heart disease, and a 4% reduction in pharmaceuticals for treating respiratory exacerbations in the
“Admission rates were significantly lower in the intervention population. Postintervention, lower hospital admission rates were found among Pacific peoples and for people over 65 years of age for asthma, cardiovascular disease, and ischemic heart disease. There was also a 4% reduction in pharmaceuticals for treating respiratory exacerbations in the intervention group”
From Review of the Impact of Housing Quality on Inequalities in Health and Well-Being (2023) · cites this paper as [44]
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- Authors
- Fyfe, C., Barnard, L. T., Douwes, J., Howden‐Chapman, P., & Crane, J.
- Affiliations
- University of Otago (NZ)
- He Kāinga Oranga, Department of Public Health University of Otago Wellington Wellington New Zealand
- Massey University (NZ)
- Corresponding author
- Fyfe, Caroline
- Venue
- Indoor Air
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2022-08
- Volume
- 32
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- e13101-e13101
- ISSN
- 0905-6947 (ISSN-L)
- 1600-0668
- PMC
- PMC9545372
- OpenAlex
- W4292553127
- Cited by
- 22
- References
- 27
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 2
- FWCI
- 1.86
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Indoor Air (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Massey Research Online (Massey University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- Ministry of Health
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Indoor Air Quality and Microbial Exposure
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Energy and Environment Impacts
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Air Quality and Health Impacts
- Keywords
- home insulation, chronic respiratory disease, respiratory disease incidence, energy efficiency subsidies, medication dispensing, indoor air quality, housing retrofit, New Zealand
- MeSH terms
- Housing, Humans, Respiratory Tract Diseases, Retrospective Studies, Incidence, Air Pollution, Indoor
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