BACKGROUND: Using disinfectants and cleaning products (DCPs) at home and work is known to influence both the onset and course of asthma, but most epidemiological studies did not consider the multiplicity and correlations of exposures to DCPs. We aimed to identify exposure profiles for the long-term weekly use of DCPs by latent class analysis (LCA) and assess their associations with asthma.

METHODS: LCA was conducted on data from 1143 young adults initially recruited in the German centers of Phase II of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) and followed up three times. In our LCA model, we included the use of cleaning sprays, disinfectant sprays, and nonspray disinfection methods, measured at ages 19-24 (first assessment) and 29-34 years (second assessment). Associations between identified exposure profiles and current as well as incident asthma/wheeze were evaluated by logistic regression.

RESULTS: We identified five long-term exposure profiles to DCPs (latent classes): no weekly use of DCPs (55% of participants), use in first assessment (7%), use in second assessment (18%), persistent use (8%), and persistent cleaning sprays use (12%). Compared to "no weekly use," being in the "persistent use" profile was associated with both current asthma (OR = 1.68, 95% CI = [0.48-5.88]) and current wheeze (OR = 1.71, 95% CI = [0.75-3.90]). For incident asthma/wheeze, interval estimates were very wide.

CONCLUSIONS: Our study identified five distinct long-term exposure profiles to DCPs. Among those, only a persistent weekly use of multiple DCPs over time seemed to have an adverse effect on asthma. However, large confidence intervals indicate considerable uncertainty.