Trial reportPediatrics2011
Effects of HEPA air cleaners on unscheduled asthma visits and asthma symptoms for children exposed to secondhand tobacco smoke.
Trial report in Pediatrics, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 56 papers, 2 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
56 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 108 citations in OpenAlex.
- Impact of non-drug therapies on asthma control: A systematic review of the literature.The European journal of general practice · 2019Pooled it
- Effectiveness of Interventions to Reduce Tobacco Smoke Pollution in Homes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2015Pooled it
- AIRWEIGHS: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Air Cleaners in Normal Weight and Overweight/Obese Children With Asthma.The journal of allergy and clinical immunology. In practice · 2025Trial
- Principal stratification analysis to determine health benefit of indoor air pollution reduction in a randomized environmental intervention in COPD: Results from the CLEAN AIR study.The Science of the total environment · 2023Trial
- Childhood asthma and household exposures to nitrogen dioxide and fine particles: a triple-crossover randomized intervention trial.The Journal of asthma : official journal of the Association for the Care of Asthma · 2023Trial
- Patterns and predictors of air purifier adherence in children with asthma living in low-income, urban households.The Journal of asthma : official journal of the Association for the Care of Asthma · 2022Trial
- Randomized Clinical Trial of Air Cleaners to Improve Indoor Air Quality and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Health: Results of the CLEAN AIR Study.American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine · 2022Trial
- Randomized trial of a portable HEPA air cleaner intervention to reduce asthma morbidity among Latino children in an agricultural community.Environmental health : a global access science source · 2022Trial
- Randomised pilot trial of cash incentives for reducing paediatric asthmatic tobacco smoke exposures from maternal caregivers and members of their social network.Archives of disease in childhood · 2021Trial
- Effectiveness of portable HEPA air cleaners on reducing indoor PMIndoor air · 2021Trial
- HEPA filtration improves asthma control in children exposed to traffic-related airborne particles.Indoor air · 2020Trial
- The School Inner-City Asthma Intervention Study: Design, rationale, methods, and lessons learned.Contemporary clinical trials · 2017Trial
- A Randomized Cross-over Air Filtration Intervention Trial for Reducing Cardiovascular Health Risks in Residents of Public Housing near a Highway.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2015Trial
- A review of indoor air quality interventions and child neurobehavioral outcomes.Pediatric research · 2026Review
- Health Benefits of Air Purification: A Systematic Review.Environment & health (Washington, D.C.) · 2026Review
- Article
- The Airport, Air Quality and Asthma (AAA) Indoor Air Intervention Trial for Children with Asthma: Protocol for a Community Based Study in South King County, Washington State.Research square · 2025Article
- Recent Insights into the Environmental Determinants of Childhood Asthma.Current allergy and asthma reports · 2024Review
- Article
- Lifestyle practices that reduce seasonal PMScientific reports · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveThe goal was to test the effects of high-efficiency, particulate-arresting (HEPA) air cleaners on unscheduled asthma visits and symptoms among children with asthma exposed to secondhand smoke.
methodsWe enrolled 225 eligible children who were 6 to 12 years of age, had physician-diagnosed asthma, and were exposed to ≥5 cigarettes per day. We conducted a double-blind, randomized trial. Children were assigned randomly to receive 2 active or inactive HEPA air cleaners.
resultsOf 225 enrolled children, 110 (49%) were assigned to the intervention group and 115 (51%) to the control group; 215 (95%) completed the trial. During the trial, there were 42 fewer unscheduled asthma visits among children in the intervention group (18.5% [95% confidence interval: 1.25%-82.75%]; P = .043), compared with those in the control group, after adjustment for baseline differences. There was a significant difference in the reductions of levels of particles of >0.3 μm according to group assignment; there was a 25% reduction in particle levels in the intervention group, compared with a 5% reduction in the control group (P = .026). There were no significant differences in parent-reported asthma symptoms, exhaled nitric-oxide levels, air nicotine levels, or cotinine levels according to group assignment.
conclusionsThese results hold promise for using HEPA air cleaners as part of a multifaceted strategy to reduce asthma morbidity, but further research is necessary before they can be recommended routinely for the medical management of asthma.
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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.