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During 2010‐2012, we surveyed 40,010 3‐ to 6‐year‐old children in seven Chinese cities (Beijing, Taiyuan, Urumqi, Shanghai, Nanjing, Changsha, and Chongqing). Their parents reported information on household renovation, including the timing of renovation and the choice of materials for walls and floors in the child's room, and the incidence of their child's rhinitis. Multivariate and two‐level (city‐child) logistic regression analyses yielding adjusted odds ratios (AOR) with 95% confidence intervals were performed. Sensitivity analyses stratifying data for location and economic level were also performed. About 48.0% of the children had ever had allergic rhinitis, 41.2% had current allergic rhinitis, and 9.0% had had doctor‐diagnosed rhinitis. Exposure to household renovation during early lifetime (birth to 1‐year‐old) had an AOR of 1.43 (1.04‐1.9) for allergic rhinitis. The incidence of allergic rhinitis was significantly different in children exposed to different floor and wall covering materials. Floor or wall covering material composed of organic materials significantly increased the risk of childhood allergic rhinitis compared with tile flooring or lime wall covering. Oil paint had an AOR of 1.66 (1.28‐2.14) for diagnosed rhinitis compared with lime wall covering. Adding new furniture the year before pregnancy was associated with an AOR of 1.18 (1.10‐1.27) and 1.18 (1.11‐1.25) for lifetime and current rhinitis. Solid wood or tiles/ceramic as floor materials, and using wallpaper, oil paint, or emulsion panels as wall materials were risk factors for doctor‐diagnosed rhinitis. Sensitivity analyses showed that children living in southern or higher economic level China cities were more likely to have allergic rhinitis with household renovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prevalence of allergic rhinitis (AR) among children has increased markedly in Beijing during the last two decades. The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of AR and to identify indoor risk factors for AR among preschool children. A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted in Beijing, 2011. Parents of 5388 3–6 years old children (65% response rate) from randomly selected kindergartens in Beijing participated in this study. A Chi-square test and multiple logistic regressions were used to identify risk factors. Our survey found that the prevalences of “AR symptoms ever,” “AR symptoms current” (AR symptoms in the last 12 months) and “doctor-diagnosed AR” are 49.5%, 45.6% and 7.8%, respectively. Confounding factors for “AR symptoms” and/or “doctor-diagnosed AR” are gender, age, family allergic history, breastfeeding and current environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). New furniture, condensation on window pane and cockroaches are risk factors for both “AR symptoms ever” and “AR symptoms current”. Risk factors for “AR symptoms ever” include the use of humidifier and incense. A risk factor for “AR symptoms current” is mosquitoes/flies. Risk factors for “doctor-diagnosed AR” include living close to a main road or highway, visible mold spots and current pet keeping. A protective factor against doctor-diagnosed AR is opening the child's bedroom window in winter (aOR 0.66, 95% CI 0.48, 0.92). We found that the greater the number of home environmental risk factors, the higher risk of AR. A number of home environmental factors are associated with AR among preschool children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]