Effects of traffic exhausts on children' s neurobehavioral functions scored by neurobehavioral evaluation methods in Quanzhou, Fujian province / 中华流行病学杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the effects of traffic exhausts on children's neurobehavioral functions.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A field study was conducted in Quanzhou, Fujian province where two primary schools were chosen based on the numbers of automobiles passing by,and the data of ambient air pollutants from the monitoring system. School B and School A located at the high traffic exhausts pollution area and the clear area, respectively. Neurobehavioral functions of pupils in grade 2 and 3 were scored.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>School B had very similar score of Ruiwen Test with School A, while the score of Digit Eras Test was lower than that in School A with marginal significance. The scores of Digit Symbol,Aim Tracing, Sign Register and Cormect Number test were 38.5 +/- 9.96, 84.3 +/- 27.83, 37.4 +/- 11.62 and 17.1 +/- 5.88 in School B,respectively, which were significantly lower than those in School A (41.6 +/- 12.97, 95.5 +/- 35.80, 42.3 +/- 15.58 and 18.7 +/- 5.78) respectively. Scores in Digit Symbol,Aim Tracing,Sign Register and Cormect Number of pupils in School B were 2.9, 11.5, 5.6 and 1.6 lower than those in School A after adjusting on other confounding factors.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>It was suggested that traffic exhausts might cause damage to children's neurobehavioral functions.</p>