NCT06098287

Residential Ventilation Systems and Filtration for Asthma Control in Adults

Cost-effective Approaches to Upgrading Residential Mechanical Ventilation Systems to Control Indoor Pollutants of Both Indoor and Outdoor Origin and Improve Asthma-related Health Outcomes

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 51 (actual)
• Sponsor: Illinois Institute of Technology · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The goal of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of three common approaches to upgrading residential mechanical ventilation systems in existing homes for improving asthma-related health outcomes, reducing indoor pollutants of both indoor and outdoor origin, and maintaining adequate environmental conditions and ventilation rates in a cohort of adult asthmatics in existing homes in Chicago, IL.

Detailed description

The Breathe Easy Study utilized a quasi-randomized, within-subjects, parallel-group, pre-post intervention study design with four weeklong periods of indoor air quality (IAQ) and indoor environmental data collection for approximately one year before the installation of mechanical ventilation systems, followed by four weeklong periods of IAQ and indoor environmental data collection for approximately one year after the installation of mechanical ventilation systems, conducted from July 2017 through March 2020 in Chicago, IL. With the nature of a healthy home intervention study by installing residential mechanical ventilation systems within the timeframe, each participant received interventions in the middle of the study period, including continuous exhaust-only systems; intermittent powered central-fan-integrated-supply (CFIS) systems; or continuous balanced systems with an energy recovery ventilator. Thus, each participant served as their own control and there was no formal control group that did not receive intervention nor did they receive a sham/placebo intervention. Primary health outcome, asthma control, was assessed by using the Asthma Control Test (ACT) every month, and quality of life, stress, and other asthma-related health outcomes were assessed via the baseline and end-line surveys.

Conditions

• Asthma
• Pollution; Exposure

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DEVICE	Residential mechanical ventilation system (Exhaust)	Exhaust-only ventilation system
DEVICE	Residential mechanical ventilation system (CFIS) and air filtration upgrades	Central-fan-integrated-supply ventilation system and air filtration upgrades (MERV 10)
DEVICE	Residential mechanical ventilation system (ERV) and air filtration upgrades	Balanced energy recovery ventilation system and air filtration upgrades (MERV 10)

Timeline

• Start date: 2017-01-01
• Primary completion: 2020-11-30
• Completion: 2020-11-30
• First posted: 2023-10-24
• Last updated: 2023-10-24

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States