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The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the characteristics of the dwelling environment of bronchial asthmatic patients and the amount of house dust mite allergens. The data was collected from patients receiving treatment at the allergy clinics of three university-affiliated hospitals in Seoul from October 2000 to January 2001, using a self-administered questionnaire. Forty-two patients commonly showed bronchial asthma caused by house dust mites, revealing strong positive points (more than 3 points) at skin prick test (Derrnatophagoides farinae, Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus), positive response in fluoroallergosorbent test (FAST), and also positive response at PCo methacholine test. The results were as follows; 1. Among the respondents, 54.8% were men and 45.2% were women, 57.1% were over thirty years old. 35.7% have a positive family history of asthma and 59.5% were under three years in the sick period. 2. As for in the characteristics of dwelling environment, 52.4% of respondents lived at the apartment, 54.8% was over ten years in age of home, 57.1% was over 99.2m in magnitude of home, 76.2% was over 10m2 in magnitude of bedroom, 66.7% was under 50% in the bedroom humidity, 85.7% was over 201C in the bedroom temperature, 78.6% was over three in the family number, 66.7% was over two in the bedroom occupant number, 73.8% owned bed, 45.29/6 was under two weeks in the washing interval of top bedding cover, 61.9% used disinfectant and bleach when washing bedding, 16.7% disinfected bedding by sunlight, 35.7% beat the bedding to remove the dust regularly, 14.3% cleaned bedding by vacuum cleaner, 40.5% deposited bedding in the closet, 33.3% placed dehumidifying material in the bedding closet, :: 1% cleaned bedroom by vacuum cleaner, 52.4% used wet cleaning, 66.7% had a dog in the home. 3. The amount of house dust mite allergens in the bedroom was 14792.5ng/g. The amount of house dust mite allergens in bedding was higher than that of the bedroom floors. 4. There was no significant difference in the amount of house dust mite allergens according to the general characteristics (gender, age, family history of asthma, and sick period). 5. There was significant difference in the amount of house dust mite allergens according to the number of families in the home (p=0.014) and the number of occupants in the bedroom (p=0.025). In this study, there are many differences to the results of preceding studies. Therefore, we increase the number of subjects and we must study on the amount of house dust mite allergens according to more specific dwelling environment.
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