Quantifying urbanome profiles as potential determinants of asthma and allergies

Introduction

Urban environmental factors - the so-called urbanome - have a major influence on the health of city dwellers, including allergic and respiratory health that strongly depend on urban lifestyle and setting. Using data from a cross-sectional study, we describe the urbanome of Montpellier, France, as perceived by city dwellers, and identify associated profiles of exposure in view of prevention against allergic and respiratory diseases.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted in the Montpellier metropolitan area between November 2022 and September 2023, involving 397 participants aged 18 to 80 years drawn from the general population. Urbanome data were collected using a standardized self-report questionnaire. Fifteen factors were used to identify exposure profiles using a hierarchical clustering on principal components (HCPC) analysis based on a multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) taking gender and smoking into account.

Results

Traffic air pollution (94.39 %), noise disturbance (74.94 %), vegetation around home in private area (67.42 %), sport activity (60.20 %), and passive smoking (50.82 %) were the most reported urbanome factors. Two separate clusters were identified, one containing well-known risk factors for allergic or respiratory diseases such as air and noise pollution and the other factors protective for allergic or respiratory diseases such as green spaces. Allergy diagnosis was commoner in the risk factors cluster (34.48 % versus 52.38 %, p = 0.011).

Conclusions

Data collected in Montpellier showed two patterns of urbanome perception, including risk and protective factors respectively. Such information is useful for promoting prevention measures. Studies with larger numbers of participants, a greater number of more objectively measured environmental factors are needed to further investigate the associations between urbanome and health.