Do airway inflammation and airway responsiveness markers at the start of apprenticeship predict their evolution during initial training? A longitudinal study among apprentice bakers, pastry makers and hairdressers

Table 2 Baseline associations between risk groups and airway inflammation and responsiveness markers among the 318 subjects (median [interquartile range], % (n))

	NO group		Eosinophil count group		Airway responsiveness FEV₁ group		Airway responsiveness resistance group
	+^a n = 44	-^a n = 274	+^b n = 44	-^b n = 274	+^c n = 44	-^c n = 274	+^d n = 27	-^d n = 291
Rhinoconjunctivitis-like symptoms	6.5% (3)	9.2% (25)	9.1% (4)	8.8% (24)	4.6% (2)	9.5% (26)	11.1% (3)	8.6% (25)
	p = 0.78		p = 1.00		p = 0.40		p = 0.72
Asthma-like symptoms	6.5% (3)	1.8% (5)	4.6% (2)	2.2% (6)	0.0% (0)	2.9% (8)	3.7% (1)	2.4% (7)
	p = 0.09		p = 0.31		p = 0.61		p = 0.51
MBC test
(Pre – post-test)/pretest FEV₁[%]	−9.9 [− 14.8;-5.4]	−5.8 [− 10.0;-3.1]	−7.5 [− 12.2;-3.6]	−6.2 [− 11.2;-3.6]	−18.9 [− 26.0;-17.2]	−5.5 [− 8.7;-2.9]	−9.8 [− 16.7;-7.9]	−5.8 [− 11.0;-3.4]
	p = 0.0009		p = 0.59		^e		p = 0.0015
(Post– pretest)/pretest Rrs4–16 [%]	17.7 [10.7;34.0]	15.8 [6.5;29.0]	14.4 [5.3;28.3]	16.1 [6.8;29.7]	24.9 [12.7;37.2]	15.0 [6.4;26.4]	63.6 [53.0;77.2]	14.6 [6.4;24.1]
	p = 0.16		p = 0.63		p = 0.0017		^e
Eosinophil count
Eosinophil count < 1 86.2% (274)	69.6% (32)	89.0% (242)	–	100.0% (274)	81.8% (36)	86.9% (238)	88.9% (24)	86.0% (250)
	p < 0.0005		^e		p = 0.35		p = 1.0
Eosinophil count [%] if ≥1%	32.5 [15.0;60.0]	9.5 [3.6;20.0]	13.9 [5.2;30.9]	–	37.0 [15.1;65.7]	11.9 [4.9;23.3]	60.0 [16.7;80.0]	12.0 [5.0;26.6]
	p = 0.006		^e		p = 0.063		p = 0.07
FeNO [ppb]	45.4 [34.0;64.1]	11.8 [8.7;16.0]	17.0 [10.2;45.5]	12.3 [9.0;17.4]	17.2 [10.4;30.7]	12.3 [8.9;17.6]	17.2 [11.0;33.2]	12.5 [9.0;17.9]
	^e		p = 0.0029		p = 0.0042		p = 0.02

^aNO Group +: subjects with a baseline FeNO level > 27 ppb; −: subjects with a baseline FeNO level < 27 ppb
^bEosinophil Count Group +: subjects with a baseline percentage of eosinophils > 1% in the nasal lavage; −: subjects with no eosinophils at baseline
^cAirway Responsiveness FEV₁ Group +: subjects with a baseline decrease in FEV₁ of 15% or more during the MBC test; −: subjects with a baseline FEV₁ decrease < 15%
^dAirway Responsiveness Resistance Group +: subjects with a baseline increase in resistance of 50% or more between 4 and 16 Hz; −: subjects with a baseline increase in resistance < 50%
^enot tested because associations exist for structural reasons
p: p-value of the test comparing the presence or level of a marker in the +risk group and-risk group

ISSN: 1471-2466