Table 4

Prevalence of the work related asthma and work related wheezing by selected characteristics in the NHANES III adult study population (1988–94)

	Work related asthma (n=5022)			Work related wheezing (n=4573)
	n*	%†	95% CI	n*	%†	95% CI
*Numbers may not add up to total due to missing values; †weighted per cent.
Sex:
Male	2435	3.27	2.28 to 4.26	2195	13.32	10.73 to 15.9
Female	2587	4.09	2.81 to 5.37	2378	9.66	7.95 to 11.36
Age groups:
20–29	1227	2.90	1.33 to 4.47	1166	14.73	11.77 to 17.70
30–39	1215	3.81	2.53 to 5.10	1130	11.33	8.73 to 13.94
40–49	951	4.92	2.82 to 7.01	890	12.66	8.91 to 16.42
50–59	703	4.89	3.11 to 6.67	610	8.78	6.70 to 10.86
≥60	926	1.10	−0.07 to 2.26	777	3.84	1.51 to 6.17
Race or ethnicity:
Non-hispanic white	2352	3.69	2.71 to 4.68	2137	12.11	10.14 to 14.08
Non-hispanic black	1346	4.02	2.96 to 5.07	1226	7.90	6.44 to 9.35
Mexican American	1135	3.88	3.00 to 4.76	1037	10.85	8.87 to 12.83
Other	189	3.22	0.98 to 5.47	173	8.43	3.59 to 13.27
Poverty income ratio:
Below poverty	741	4.54	2.15 to 6.92	628	14.76	8.56 to 20.93
Above poverty	3892	3.74	2.81 to 4.68	3584	11.41	9.52 to 13.29
Atopy:
No	4360	1.99	1.32 to 2.65	3922	10.18	8.66 to 11.69
Yes	661	12.75	8.65 to 16.84	650	17.68	13.91 to 21.42
Smoking:
Non-smokers	2405	3.30	2.23 to 4.37	2302	6.43	5.03 to 7.83
Current smokers	1432	4.52	3.33 to 5.71	1179	23.42	19.43 to 27.41
Past smokers	1185	3.45	2.05 to 4.85	1092	8.22	5.97 to 10.48