Received: August 15, 2025; Accepted: March 19, 2026.
ABSTRACT
Indoor air pollution (IAP), primarily from the combustion of solid fuels like wood and charcoal, is a critical public health challenge. This exposure disproportionately affects women in developing countries due to their traditional domestic roles. However, a comprehensive synthesis of the wide-ranging health outcomes specifically for women in developing Asia remains limited. Therefore, the main objective of this review is to summarize the available evidence on the association between IAP exposure and various health outcomes in this vulnerable population. For this, a systematic review was conducted following the PRISMA guidelines. A search in Cochrane Library, PubMed, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, and Scopus was performed. The methodological quality and risk of bias of included studies were verified through the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS), AXIS tool, and the OHAT framework. All selection and data extraction processes were carried out independently by two reviewers. Strong and consistent evidence was found across the 28 included studies. IAP exposure was significantly associated with multi-systemic health damage, including increased respiratory symptoms (aOR=3.0), decreased lung function, and adverse reproductive outcomes such as a higher risk of birth defects (aOR up to 7.09) and stillbirth (aOR=1.34). Furthermore, exposure was linked to increased cardio-metabolic disease risk, genotoxicity, and significant cognitive decline. Thus, future policies and interventions are urgently needed to mitigate this preventable burden of disease.
, 
PDF Links
Full text via DOI
Download Citation 
