Table 1

Characteristics of the study population exposed at the community pool accident in Rome, 1998

		Children n=134				Adults n=126			Total n=260
		n	%			n	%		n	%
Sex:
Male	62	46.3		33	26.2		95	36.5
Female	72	53.7		93	73.8		165	63.5
Smoking habit:
Never	—	—		77	61.1		77	61.1
Ex	—	—		8	6.3		8	6.3
Current	—	—		40	31.7		40	31.7
History of chronic respiratory disease:^1-150
No	116	86.6		112	88.9		228	87.7
Yes	18	13.4		14	11.1		32	12.3
Present at the pool as:
Staff	—	—		11	8.7		12	4.6
Swimmer	116	86.6		3	2.4		119	45.8
Accompanying person	16	11.9		111	88.1		127	48.8
Engaged in physical exercise at the time of the accident:
No	56	41.8		101	80.2		157	60.4
Yes	69	51.5		4	3.2		73	28.1
Time to vacate the pool (minutes):
<3	45	33.6		36	28.6		81	31.1
3–5	44	32.8		40	31.7		84	32.3
>5	34	25.4		49	38.9		83	31.9
Perception of exposure:
Not at all/a little	81	60.4		65	51.6		146	56.2
A moderate amount	39	29.1		42	33.3		81	31.2
A lot	10	7.5		19	15.1		29	11.2