Characteristics of submariners recorded in prepatrol skin health questionnaires stratified by S. aureus nasal carriage and skin health scores
| Demographics (ratio) | S. aureus carriage status | Skin health score | Non-response rate | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carriers (n=13) | Non-carriers (n=23) | p Value/OR and 95% CI | High (n=17) | Low (n=19) | p Value/OR and 95% CI | ||
| Male | 1.000 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 0.000 |
| Median age (years) | 34.000 | 28.000 | 0.073 | 35.000 | 28.000 | 0.041 | 0.028 |
| Median time in navy (years) | 14.000 | 5.000 | 0.051 | 13.000 | 6.000 | 0.042 | 0.000 |
| Median time as submariner (years) | 14.000 | 3.000 | 0.087 | 12.000 | 3.000 | 0.045 | 0.000 |
| Officer | 0.231 | 0.217 | 0.926 (0.182 to 4.711) | 0.294 | 0.158 | 0.450 (0.089 to 2.263) | 0.000 |
| Marine engineer | 0.231 | 0.304 | 1.458 (0.305 to 6.984) | 0.294 | 0.263 | 0.857 (0.199 to 3.690) | 0.000 |
| Current smokers | 0.308 | 0.304 | 1.016 (0.232 to 4.441) | 0.471 | 0.158 | 4.471 (0.998 to 22.517) | 0.000 |
| Asthma | 0.083 | 0.091 | 0.909 (0.074 to 11.194) | 0.118 | 0.059 | 2.133 (0.175 to 26.033) | 0.056 |
| Eczema | 0.000 | 0.045 | n/a | 0.000 | 0.059 | n/a | 0.056 |
| Hayfever | 0.083 | 0.174 | 0.432 (0.043 to 4.366) | 0.118 | 0.167 | 0.667 (0.097 to 4.579) | 0.028 |
| Surgery in past month | 0.000 | 0.043 | n/a | 0.059 | 0.000 | n/a | 0.028 |
| Vaccination in past month | 0.000 | 0.000 | n/a | 0.000 | 0.000 | n/a | 0.028 |
| Flu-like illness in past month | 0.000 | 0.136 | n/a | 0.125 | 0.053 | 2.571 (0.211 to 31.326 | 0.028 |
| Cutaneous abscess on skin in past month | 0.154 | 0.048 | 3.636 (0.295 to 44.775) | 0.067 | 0.105 | 0.607 (0.050 to 7.415) | 0.056 |
| Skin infection in past month | 0.000 | 0.000 | n/a | 0.000 | 0.000 | n/a | 0.083 |
| Ever had a cutaneous abscess incised and drained | 0.385 | 0.045 | 13.125 (1.321 to 130.424) | 0.313 | 0.053 | 8.182 (0.842 to 79.535) | 0.028 |
| Antibiotic use in past 6 months | 0.154 | 0.000 | n/a | 0.125 | 0.000 | n/a | 0.028 |
| Received all childhood vaccines | 1.000 | 0.905 | n/a | 1.000 | 0.889 | n/a | 0.083 |
| Ever had antibiotics post surgery | 0.385 | 0.182 | 2.813 (0.593 to 13.336) | 0.250 | 0.263 | 0.933 (0.203 to 4.285) | 0.028 |
| Previous S. aureus infection | 0.000 | 0.000 | n/a | 0.000 | 0.000 | n/a | 0.083 |
| Deployed within last 3 months | 0.923 | 0.909 | 0.833 (0.068 to 10.202) | 0.875 | 0.947 | 2.571 (0.211 to 31.326) | 0.028 |
| Chlorhexidine allergy | 0.000 | 0.000 | n/a | 0.000 | 0.000 | n/a | 0.028 |
| Persistent S. aureus carrier | n/a | n/a | n/a | 0.471 | 0.263 | 2.489 (0.616 to 10.056) | 0.000 |
Mann-Whitney tests shown for continuous variables and OR with 95% CIs shown for dichotomous variables.