Trial reportThorax2007
Effects on patients with asthma of eradicating visible indoor mould: a randomised controlled trial.
Trial report in Thorax, 2007. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 38 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
38 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 120 citations in OpenAlex.
- Remediating buildings damaged by dampness and mould for preventing or reducing respiratory tract symptoms, infections and asthma.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2015Pooled it
- Dehumidifiers for chronic asthma.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2013Pooled it
- Housing improvements for health and associated socio-economic outcomes.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2013Pooled it
- Enhancing ventilation in homes of children with asthma: pragmatic randomised controlled trial.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2011Trial
- The effect of damp housing on psychological distress: does respiratory health matter?American journal of epidemiology · 2026Article
- Mold exposure and rhinitis symptoms among children attending Head Start centers in New York City.Annals of allergy, asthma & immunology : official publication of the American College of Allergy, Asthma, & Immunology · 2026Article
- Review
- Housing Quality Improvement and Health Care Utilization: A Regression Discontinuity Study.Journal of policy analysis and management : [the journal of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management] · 2026Article
- Home exposure to moisture and mold is associated with poorer asthma control in children: CHAMPIASTHMA study.The journal of allergy and clinical immunology. Global · 2025Article
- Association of exposure to indoor molds and dampness with allergic diseases at water-damaged dwellings in Korea.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- AWMF mold guideline "Medical clinical diagnostics for indoor mold exposure" - Update 2023 AWMF Register No. 161/001.Allergologie select · 2024Article
- Environmental allergen reduction in asthma management: an overview.Frontiers in allergy · 2023Review
- The role of environmental allergen control in the management of asthma.The World Allergy Organization journal · 2022Review
- Novel acute hypersensitivity pneumonitis model induced by airway mycosis and high dose lipopolysaccharide.Respiratory research · 2021Article
- 2020 Focused Updates to the Asthma Management Guidelines: A Report from the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program Coordinating Committee Expert Panel Working Group.The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology · 2020Review
- Impact of Air Pollution on Asthma Outcomes.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Review
- The Indoor Environment and Childhood Asthma.Current allergy and asthma reports · 2020Review
- Do Baseline Asthma and Allergic Sensitization Characteristics Predict Responsiveness to Mouse Allergen Reduction?The journal of allergy and clinical immunology. In practice · 2020Article
- Selective cleavage of fibrinogen by diverse proteinases initiates innate allergic and antifungal immunity through CD11b.The Journal of biological chemistry · 2019Article
- Epidemiology of Asthma in Children and Adults.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2019Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundIt is not clear whether associations between respiratory symptoms and indoor mould are causal. A randomised controlled trial was conducted to see whether asthma improves when indoor mould is removed.
methodsHouses of patients with asthma were randomly allocated into two groups. In one group, indoor mould was removed, fungicide was applied and a fan was installed in the loft. In the control group, intervention was delayed for 12 months. Questionnaires were administered and peak expiratory flow rate was measured at baseline, 6 months and 12 months.
resultsEighty-one houses were allocated to the intervention group and 83 to the control group; 95 participants in 68 intervention houses and 87 in 63 control houses supplied follow-up information. Peak expiratory flow rate variability declined in both groups, with no significant differences between them. At 6 months, significantly more of the intervention group showed a net improvement in wheeze affecting activities (difference between groups 25%, 95% CI 3% to 47%; p = 0.028), perceived improvement of breathing (52%, 95% CI 30% to 74%; p<0.0001) and perceived reduction in medication (59%, 95% CI 35% to 81%; p<0.0001). By 12 months the intervention group showed significantly greater reductions than the controls in preventer and reliever use, and more improvement in rhinitis (24%, 95% CI 9% to 39%; p = 0.001) and rhinoconjunctivitis (20%, 95% CI 5% to 36%; p = 0.009).
conclusionsAlthough there was no objective evidence of benefit, symptoms of asthma and rhinitis improved and medication use declined following removal of indoor mould. It is unlikely that this was entirely a placebo effect.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.