Subsidized Housing and Adult Asthma in Boston, 2010-2015

Objectives. To examine whether subsidized housing, specifically public housing and rental assistance, is associated with asthma in the Boston, Massachusetts, adult population. Methods. We analyzed a pooled cross-sectional sample of 9554 adults taking part in 3 Boston Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System surveys from 2010 to 2015. We estimated odds ratios for current asthma in association with housing status (public housing development [PHD] resident, rental assistance [RA] renter, non-RA renter, non-renter nonowner, homeowner as reference) in logistic regression analyses adjusting for year, age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, and income. Results. The odds of current asthma were 2.02 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.35, 3.03) and 2.34 (95% CI = 1.60, 3.44) times higher among PHD residents and RA renters, respectively, than among homeowners. We observed smoking-related effect modification (interaction P= .04); elevated associations for PHD residents and RA renters remained statistically significant (P< .05) only among ever smokers. Associations for PHD residents and RA renters remained consistent in magnitude in comparison with non-RA renters who were eligible for subsidized housing according to income. Conclusions. Public housing and rental assistance were strongly associated with asthma in this large cross-sectional sample of adult Boston residents.