Demographics, symptoms and self-reported diagnoses of participants overall and by exposure categories
| All participants | Time spent daily in production areas | Facility tenure | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| <1 h | ≥1 h | <7 years | ≥7 years | ||
| N | 367 | 229 | 138 | 189 | 178 |
| Demographic | |||||
| Age, years, mean (range) | 42 (20–71) | 42 (22–71) | 42 (20–65) | 37 (20–66) | 47 (27–71) |
| Smoking status | |||||
| Current, n (%) | 70 (19) | 28 (12) | 42 (30) | 43 (23) | 27 (15) |
| Former, n (%) | 91 (25) | 56 (24) | 35 (25) | 36 (19) | 55 (31) |
| Never, n (%) | 206 (56) | 145 (63) | 61 (44) | 110 (58) | 96 (54) |
| Symptom* or diagnosis | |||||
| Sinusitis, n (%) | 174 (47) | 100 (44) | 74 (54) | 87 (46) | 87 (49) |
| WR sinusitis, n (%) | 43 (12) | 17 (7) | 26 (19) | 20 (11) | 23 (13) |
| Nasal symptoms, n (%) | 164 (45) | 96 (42) | 68 (49) | 85 (45) | 79 (44) |
| WR nasal symptoms, n (%) | 55 (15) | 26 (11) | 29 (21) | 31 (16) | 24 (13) |
| Asthma-like symptoms†, n (%) | 101 (28) | 52 (23) | 49 (36) | 55 (29) | 46 (26) |
| Shortness of breath‡, n (%) | 81 (22) | 51 (22) | 30 (22) | 29 (15) | 52 (29) |
| Wheeze, n (%) | 82 (22) | 45 (20) | 37 (27) | 41 (22) | 41 (23) |
| WR wheeze, n (%) | 20 (5) | 8 (3) | 12 (9) | 11 (6) | 9 (5) |
| Breathing trouble, n (%) | 75 (20) | 42 (18) | 33 (24) | 40 (21) | 35 (20) |
| WR breathing trouble, n (%) | 25 (7) | 8 (3) | 17 (12) | 15 (8) | 10 (6) |
| Usual phlegm, n (%) | 56 (15) | 23 (10) | 33 (24) | 29 (15) | 27 (15) |
| Usual cough, n (%) | 45 (12) | 19 (8) | 26 (19) | 25 (13) | 20 (11) |
| WR usual cough, n (%) | 12 (3) | 4 (2) | 8 (6) | 6 (3) | 6 (3) |
| Ever asthma, n (%) | 44 (12) | 28 (12) | 16 (12) | 25 (13) | 19 (11) |
| Current asthma, n (%) | 28 (8) | 20 (9) | 8 (6) | 17 (9) | 11 (6) |
Statistically significant differences (p≤0.05) are in bold.
*All symptoms were reported for the last 12 months, with the exception of shortness of breath, cough and phlegm. Work-related symptoms were defined as symptoms that improved away from the facility.
†Asthma-like symptoms were defined as current use of asthma medicine and/or one or more of the following symptoms in the last 12 months: wheezing or whistling in the chest, awakening with a feeling of chest tightness or attack of asthma.
‡Shortness of breath when hurrying on level ground or walking up a slight hill.
WR, work related.