Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36040274›Full record

ArticleIndoor air2022

Retrofitting home insulation reduces incidence and severity of chronic respiratory disease.

Caroline Fyfe, Lucy Telfar Barnard, Jeroen Douwes, Philippa Howden-Chapman, Julian Crane

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Indoor air, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed
5.4field-weighted citation impact, top 4% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed, 19 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. A New Zealand Heat Pump Retrofit Programme: Warmer, Drier, Happier, Cheaper.Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand · 2026
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Caroline FyfeHe Kāinga Oranga, Department of Public Health, University of Otago Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand.
Lucy Telfar BarnardHe Kāinga Oranga, Department of Public Health, University of Otago Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand.
Jeroen DouwesResearch Centre for Hauora and Health, Massey University Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand.
Philippa Howden-ChapmanHe Kāinga Oranga, Department of Public Health, University of Otago Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand.
Julian CraneWellington Asthma Research Group, Department of Medicine, University of Otago Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand.
University of Otago · NZMassey University · NZVictoria University of Wellington · NZ

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

To assess whether retrofitting home insulation can reduce the risk of respiratory disease incidence and exacerbation, a retrospective cohort study was undertaken using linked data from a national intervention program. The study population was made up of 1 004 795 residents from 205 001 New Zealand houses that received an insulation subsidy though a national Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority program. A difference-in-difference model compared changes in the number of prescriptions dispensed for respiratory illness post- insulation to a control population over the same timeframe. New prescribing of chronic respiratory disease medication at follow-up was used to compare incidence risk ratios between intervention and control groups. Chronic respiratory disease incidence was significantly lower in the intervention group at follow-up: odds ratio 0.90 (95% CI: 0.86-0.94). There was also a 4% reduction in medication dispensed for treating exacerbations of chronic respiratory disease symptoms in the intervention group compared with the control group: relative rate ratio (RRR) 0.96 (95% CI: 0.96-0.97). There was no change in medication dispensed to prevent symptoms of chronic respiratory disease RRR: 1,00 (95% CI: 0.99-1.00). These findings support home insulation interventions as a means of improving respiratory health outcomes.

Indexed as

Air Pollution, IndoorRespiratory Tract DiseasesHousingHumansIncidenceRetrospective Studiescolddamphealthhousingmoldrespiratory disease

Identifiers

PMID36040274
PMCPMC9545372
OpenAlexW4292553127

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.