Past Research pages

Site Updated: April 21, 2009

Housing, Heating and Health Study

Preliminary results of the Housing Heating and Health Study are now available. The main results have been published in the British medical journal. Although the main results have been analysed, further analyses to understand the nuances of the study are ongoing.

Questionnaires and Diaries used in the study are available now:

Adult (14 years  & over) questionnaire  (Word doc)
Child (0-13 years) questionnaire  (Word doc)
Head of Household questionnaire  (Word doc)
Health Diary  (PDF)                                      
Symptom Diary: Child with Asthma (PDF)

This Study was carried out by a multi-disciplinary team of reserachers from the Universities of Otago, Massey, Victoria and Auckland and BRANZ.

We are especially grateful to all our funders: Health Research Council of New Zealand, Contact Energy, Ministry for the Environment, Hutt Valley DHB, EECA, Housing New Zealand Corporation, Capital and Coast District Health Board, LPG Association, Otago University, Massey University, Building Research.

Many thanks to all the children and their families/whanau who agreed to take part in the study and generously gave us their time. We are also very grateful to the community coordinators, interviewers, general practitioners, energy companies, retrofitters and heater suppliers. For a full list of our collaborators see: Thank you list

Two interim reports are also available:

• Housing Heating and Health Study 2005/2006 Report One - Professor Philippa Howden-Chapman and the Housing and Heating Research Team June 2006.
• Housing, Heating and Health Study: 2005/2006 Report Two - Associate Professor Ralph Chapman and Housing and Heating Research Team June 2006

Data collection for the Housing, Heating and Health study took place over the winters of 2005 and 2006, to examine the effects of temperature and indoor pollutants on children's health, in a randomised controlled clustered experimental design.

Over the autumn of 2005, 412 households that have asthmatic children were recruited. As the Housing, Insulation and Health Study demonstrated health benefits to people living in insulated houses, all the houses in the Housing, Heating and Health study were insulated during that autumn before the winter when data collection for the Heating study commenced. The asthmatic children and other household members recorded their respiratory symptoms over the winter of 2005, and at the end of the winter they filled in health questionnaires. Air quality temperatures and conditions in the house were also monitored. The households were then randomly allocated to the intervention or control groups. The intervention group received a new heater (either a heat pump, a wood pellet burner or a flued gas heater) in May/ June 2006. During the 2006 winter the same measurements taken in 2005 were repeated as well as some additional information on outdoor air quality. All measurements and questionnaires have now been collected and the control group received new heaters early in 2007.

In a preliminary heating study a medical student, Sarah Dunn, interviewed people in Masterton to find out what affected their choice of heating. The questions were designed to be open ended to elicit a wide-range of responses. Census data showed a high rate of the use of bottled gas and wood as fuels in Masterton, so in addition to asking about the kinds of fuel actually used in each home there were also questions on these two types of heating and the perceived advantages and disadvantages of each of them. Sarah's report Qualitative Study of Home Heating Choices in Masterton as well as the Housing and Health Research Programmes Housing, Insulation and Health Study has lead to the Housing, Heating and Health Study.