Objective  To explore parents-reported indoor environment influencing factors of wheezing and asthma among preschool children in Urumqi city of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and to provide evidences for prevention and control of respiratory diseases in the children.

  Methods  Using stratified random cluster sampling, we conducted a self-administered questionnaire survey among 4 000 parents of 2 – 7 years old children in 20 kindergartens in two districts of Urumqi city during April – August 2019. The preschoolers′ information on wheezing and asthma symptoms and exposure to personal and environmental factors correlated with the symptoms were collected with a self-designed questionnaire.

  Results  For the 3 678 preschool children with valid data, the parents-reported prevalence of asthma and wheezing were 2.5% and 5.5% respectively. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed following risk factors for asthma: family asthma history (odds ratio OR = 6.227, 95% confidence interval 95% CI: 3.130 – 12.391), home decoration when a child being one year old and younger (OR = 2.434, 95% CI: 1.048 – 5.655), furry pets keeping in a child′s home (OR = 2.091, 95% CI: 1.008 – 4.338), and being an ethnicity other than Han (OR = 1.760, 95% CI: 1.070 – 2.895); the analysis also demonstrated that family asthma history (OR = 6.056, 95% CI: 3.042 – 12.056), furry pets keeping in a child′s home (OR = 2.193, 95% CI: 1.061 – 4.534), and and being an ethnicity other than Han (OR = 1.749, 95% CI: 1.061 – 2.882) were risk factors for wheezing.

  Conclusion  In addition to genetic factors, home decoration is a risk factor for asthma and keeping furry pets is a risk factor for asthma and wheezing among preschool children in Urumqi city.