The effect of the housing crisis in the Alabama Black Belt on respiratory health.

Background: There is a growing housing crisis in rural America with homelessness growing in addition to a growing number of substandard homes due to an inability to afford the costs of repair and maintenance. The goal of the current study was to assess the housing concerns in rural Alabama Black Belt communities which are often understudied and the relationship between housing quality and respiratory health.

Methods: A semi-random sampling of five Black Belt counties was conducted to obtain a sample of 253 rural households.