Effects of air purifier on mould and bacteria concentration in the bedroom and improvement of symptoms in asthmatics

Objective To explore the changing impact of concentration which resided in patients-bedrooms mould and bacteria with improving patients′ asthma symptoms. Methods 28 patients who were clinically confirmed with asthma in different areas was randomly selected from Guangzhou and installed a air purifier in their bedroom.Koch′s settlement method is used in the bedroom with five sample-collected point to collect the mold (8 hours) and bacteria (30 minutes). The concentration of mould and bacteria was measured before and after utilizing air purifier.At the same time, temperature and relative humidity of the bedroom were recorded.During the experiment, the asthma control test scale (ACT) was finished by patients.With SPSS 20.0, the relationship between the concentration of bedroom mould, bacteria, temperature, relative humidity and trends of ACT scale score all was analyzed. Results Before using air purifier, the concentration of bedroom′s mold and bacteria was respectively (21.35±13.12) cfu/m3 and (1 060±1 138) cfu/m3.And the temperature was (21±6) ℃, relative humidity was (64±15) %.Mould concentration and relative humidity has highly significant (P<0.01) and has no related with temperature (P=0.069), and bacterial concentration has no related with relative humidity (P=0.648) and temperature (P=0.122). After the use of air purifier, mould concentration in the bedroom has decreased.While bacteria concentration is kept in a fluctuations.ACT scale score (22±3)is higher than the previous (20±3). It show that the asthma symptoms was well controlled. Conclusions The use of air purifier can decrease the mould concentration of bedroom which improve the symptoms of patients with asthma. Key words: Air purifier; Mould; Bacteria