Table 1

Prevalence of LRS course by demographic factors, insurance, exposure to the disaster and mental health conditions; bivariate analysis*, N=18 913

	LRS course
	Total†	No LRS	LRS at W1 only	LRS at W1 and W2 only	LRS at W1, W2 and W3
		−,−,−	+,−,−	+,+,−	+,+,+
		Per cent	Per cent	Per cent	Per cent
Factor	18 913	47.1	27.2	11.1	14.7
Gender
Male	11 903	45.7	27.0	11.4	15.9
Female	7010	49.4	27.5	10.6	12.5
Age category at 9/11/2001
18–24	885	59.2	26.9	6.1	7.8
25–44	10 291	45.7	28.4	11.3	14.5
45–64	7264	47.2	25.7	11.3	15.8
≥65	473	51.6	23.0	11.8	13.5
Eligibility group
Rescue/Recovery workers	8995	41.7	27.6	12.0	18.7
Residents	2494	52.4	27.2	9.7	10.7
Area workers	6591	52.2	26.6	10.4	10.7
Passersby	816	48.9	27.0	10.5	13.6
Race/ethnicity
White non-Hispanic	14 070	50.3	26.4	10.0	13.2
Black non-Hispanic	1626	37.6	31.0	15.3	16.2
Hispanic	1821	32.6	28.0	14.8	24.6
Asian	884	49.2	29.6	10.2	11.0
Other	512	36.1	28.3	15.2	20.3
Education‡
High school or less	3617	35.9	26.0	14.2	23.8
Some college	4433	37.6	28.4	13.6	20.4
College/post-graduate	10 780	54.7	27.1	9.0	9.2
BMI reported at W3‡
Normal (<25)	5688	55.7	26.4	8.6	9.4
Overweight (25–29)	7486	47.3	27.9	10.8	14.0
Obese (≥30)	5433	37.8	27.0	14.1	21.1
Smoking at W3‡
Every day	1049	29.5	23.2	16.8	30.6
Some days	709	36.2	29.2	14.1	20.5
Not at all	16 908	48.7	27.3	10.6	13.4
Social integration at W3‡
Low	2597	34.5	27.8	13.1	24.6
Medium	7191	47.8	27.1	10.9	14.1
High	8607	50.2	27.2	10.6	12.0
Lacking health insurance‡
No	16 315	48.4	27.2	10.9	13.5
Some time since 9/11 but not in past 12 months	1363	41.7	26.9	11.1	20.4
Lacking in past 12 months	917	34.6	27.6	13.3	24.5
Exposure scale‡
Low	4874	63.8	21.6	6.7	7.9
Medium	7970	48.8	27.1	11.0	13.1
High	4373	35.4	31.5	13.7	19.3
Very high	1696	20.9	32.4	17.5	29.3
Probable PTSD at W2
No	15 530	53.2	27.9	9.4	9.5
Yes	2893	16.8	23.4	19.8	40.0
Probable PTSD at W3
No	15 817	52.0	28.0	10.0	10.0
Yes	2441	17.5	22.1	16.8	43.6
Probable depression at W3
No	15 880	51.6	28.0	10.1	10.3
Yes	2481	20.0	21.8	16.6	41.5
Probable GAD at W3
No	16 466	50.3	27.8	10.4	11.5
Yes	1951	21.9	21.4	16.4	40.3

*All factors are significant by χ² at p<0.0001.
†The total may not add to 100% due to rounding and may be <18 913 due to missing data.‡Cochran-Armitage trend test for persistent LRS versus other three categories significant at p<0.0001.
BMI, body mass index; GAD, generalised anxiety disorder; LRS, lower respiratory symptoms; PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder; W1, Wave 1; W2, Wave 2; W3, Wave 3.