Association of housing distance in relation to recycling sites on schoolchildren’s cognitive abilities

EnglishAims: We verified the association of housing distance in relation to recycling sites on schoolchildren’s cognitive abilities.Methods: This is a cross-sectional study, in which the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence was applied to 100 schoolchildren aged 6 to 14 years. Children were divided into a study group (exposed), whose households were located less than 100 meters from recycling sites in a neighborhood in the city of Caxias do Sul, and a control group, whose homes were located more than 150 meters from a recycling site in the same neighborhood or nearby.Results: Residences located more than 150 meters away from a recycling site can reduce the chance of low intelligence quotient in schoolchildren in the univariate analysis (OR 2.19; 95% CI 1.21-3.95). The full-scale intelligence quotient score was 84 in the exposed group and 95 in the control group (p≤0.01). When adjusted for other potentially harmful variables, higher maternal education was a mitigating factor of distance impact (OR 0.28, 95% CI 0.11-0.72). The difference found among verbal intelligence quotient scores was 14 points (p portuguesObjetivos: Verificar a associacao da distância da habitacao em relacao a sitios de reciclagem sobre habilidades cognitivas em escolares.Metodos: Estudo transversal, no qual aplicou-se a escala Wechsler Abreviada de Inteligencia em 100 escolares de 6 a 14 anos. As criancas foram divididas em um grupo de estudo (expostos), cujas residencias estavam situadas a menos de 100 metros de sitios de reciclagem, em um bairro da cidade de Caxias do Sul. Houve um grupo controle, cujas residencias estavam a mais de 150 metros de algum sitio de reciclagem, no mesmo bairro ou adjacencias.Resultados: A habitacao proxima a sitios de reciclagem aumentou a chance de apresentar quociente de inteligencia baixo nos escolares na analise univariada (OR 2,19; IC95% 1,21–3,95). No quociente de inteligencia total, o escore obtido foi de 84 no grupo exposto e 95 no grupo controle (p≤0,01). Quando ajustadas para outras variaveis potencialmente prejudiciais, a escolaridade materna elevada mostrou-se um fator atenuador do impacto da distância (OR 0,28; IC95% 0,11–0,72). A diferenca encontrada entre os escores de quociente de inteligencia verbal foi de 14 pontos (p