The impact of allergic rhinitis on the management of asthma in a working population

BMC Pulmonary Medicine

Table 1 Characteristics of current and previous asthmatics and subjects with respiratory symptoms but no asthma

	Current asthmatics		Previous asthmatics		Subjects with respiratory symptoms but no asthma
	N = 374		N = 426		N = 2302
	n	%	n	%	n	%	P value
Sex							ns
Men	218	58.3	269	63.1	1307	56.8
Women	156	41.7	157	36.9	995	43.2
Age							<0.001
< 25 years	64	17.1	56	13.1	199	8.7
25–34 years	98	26.2	137	32.2	558	24.2
35–44 years	105	28.1	115	27.0	682	29.6
45–54 years	83	22.2	93	21.8	650	28.2
> 55 years	24	6.4	25	5.9	213	9.3
Smoking habits							ns
Never	146	39.4	145	34.1	759	33.0
Past	81	21.8	107	25.2	559	24.4
Current	144	38.8	173	40.7	977	42.6
Body Mass Index (kg/m2)							<0.001
Underweight (<18.5)	23	6.5	10	2.5	72	3.2
Normal (18.5–25)	179	50.8	237	58.4	1221	55.2
Overweight (25–30)	110	31.2	127	31.3	664	30.0
Obese (>30)	40	11.4	32	7.9	255	11.5
Hospitalization during the last 12 months	64	17.2	43	10.1	68	2.9	<0.001
Emergency visits during the last 12 months	71	19.0	21	4.9	74	3.2	<0.001
Occupational categories							ns
Managers	34	10.6	52	12.3	236	10.4
Intermediate and supervisory	85	23.1	121	28.7	578	25.6
Office and sales personnel	112	30.4	109	25.9	688	30.5
Skilled laborers	75	20.4	77	18.3	501	22.2
Unskilled laborers	57	15.5	62	14.7	256	11.3
Industries							ns
Agriculture	3	0.8	3	0.7	33	1.4
Manufacturing industries	70	18.9	89	21.0	515	22.5
Construction industry	37	10.0	43	10.1	172	7.5
Trade	50	13.5	55	13.0	310	13.6
Transportation	13	3.5	13	3.1	64	2.8
Personal service activities	15	4.0	21	5.0	104	4.5
Real estate, business activities	66	17.8	85	20.0	399	17.4
Finance	13	3.5	19	4.5	69	3.0
Education, health, social	59	15.9	51	12.0	349	15.3
Administration	44	11.9	45	10.6	271	11.8

ISSN: 1471-2466