Prevalence of asthma, respiratory symptoms ever and symptoms during the past 12 months by possible confounders: area of residence, smoking habits, housing conditions, age and gender
| Symptoms or disease | Area of residence | Smoking habits | Age (years) | Gender | Housing conditions | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number Yes/no | Grenland | Outside Grenland | p Value* | Never- smokers | Past smokers | Current smokers | p Value† | 16–30 | 31–40 | 41–50 | p Value† | Men | Women | p Value* | Detached | Row/ semidetached | Apartment | Other | p Value† | |
| Ever | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Ever asthma | 2137/13962 | 1348 (13.1) | 789 (13.6) | 0.371 | 1128 (12.6) | 471 (14.4) | 526 (14.0) | 0.012 | 759 (14.4) | 553 (13.4) | 825 (12.3) | 0.005 | 871 (12.2) | 1266 (14.2) | <0.001 | 1416 (12.7) | 232 (14.8) | 432 (15.0) | 45 (13.8) | 0.002 |
| Physician-diagnosed asthma | 1857/14042 | 1178 (11.4) | 679 (11.7) | 0.626 | 983 (11.0) | 407 (12.4) | 457 (12.2) | 0.032 | 656 (12.4) | 471 (11.4) | 730 (10.9) | 0.036 | 757 (10.6) | 1100 (12.3) | 0.001 | 1226 (11.0) | 207 (13.2) | 376 (13.1) | 39 (12.0) | 0.002 |
| Ever wheezing | 4294/11805 | 2788 (27.1) | 1 506 (26.0) | 0.124 | 1893 (21.2) | 988 (30.2) | 1399 (37.3) | <0.001 | 1323 (25.0) | 1125 (27.3) | 1846 (27.6) | 0.005 | 1858 (26.0) | 2436 (27.2) | 0.067 | 2919 (26.1) | 436 (27.9) | 837 (29.1) | 81 (24.9) | 0.008 |
| Chronic cough | 3319/12780 | 2210 (21.5) | 1109 (19.1) | <0.001 | 1663 (18.6) | 636 (19.4) | 1001 (26.7) | <0.001 | 1082 (20.5) | 853 (20.7) | 1384 (20.7) | 0.959 | 1334 (18.6) | 1985 (22.2) | <0.001 | 2234 (20.0) | 347 (22.2) | 653 (22.7) | 68 (20.9) | 0.006 |
| Productive cough | 2363/13736 | 1589 (15.4) | 774 (13.3) | <0.001 | 1006 (11.2) | 425 (13.0) | 921 (24.6) | <0.001 | 830 (15.7) | 533 (12.9) | 1000 (14.9) | 0.001 | 1018 (14.2) | 1345 (15.0) | 0.145 | 1494 (13.4) | 252 (16.1) | 539 (18.7) | 64 (19.7) | <0.001 |
| Nasal allergies | 4814/12085 | 3148 (30.6) | 1666 (28.7) | 0.013 | 2682 (30.0) | 1030 (31.5) | 1087 (29.0) | 0.073 | 1461 (27.7) | 1298 (31.5) | 2055 (30.7) | <0.001 | 2122 (29.6) | 2692 (30.1) | 0.522 | 3388 (30.3) | 504 (32.2) | 832 (28.9) | 68 (20.9) | <0.001 |
| Past 12 months | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Wheezing | 3226/12963 | 2093 (20.3) | 1133 (19.5) | 0.227 | 1378 (15.4) | 620 (19.0) | 1213 (32.4) | <0.001 | 1021 (19.3) | 792 (19.2) | 1413 (21.1) | 0.015 | 1371 (19.2) | 1855 (20.7) | 0.012 | 2164 (19.4) | 333 (21.3) | 645 (22.4) | 65 (20.0) | 0.002 |
| Asthma attack | 664/15 035 | 447 (4.3) | 217 (3.7) | 0.070 | 345 (3.9) | 138 (4.2) | 174 (4.6) | 0.119 | 222 (4.2) | 136 (3.3) | 306 (4.6) | 0.005 | 211 (2.9) | 453 (5.1) | <0.001 | 412 (3.7) | 71 (4.5) | 162 (5.6) | 13 (4.0) | <0.001 |
| Woken by dyspnoea | 1179/14920 | 790 (7.7) | 389 (6.7) | 0.024 | 533 (6.0) | 243 (7.4) | 396 (10.6) | <0.001 | 318 (6.0) | 264 (6.4) | 597 (8.9) | <0.001 | 503 (7.0) | 676 (7.6) | 0.201 | 766 (6.9) | 126 (8.1) | 258 (9.0) | 22 (6.8) | 0.001 |
| Current use of asthma medication | 1171/14928 | 730 (7.1) | 441 (7.6) | 0.242 | 610 (6.8) | 262 (8.0) | 291 (7.8) | 0.035 | 376 (7.1) | 262 (6.3) | 533 (8.0) | 0.006 | 435 (6.1) | 736 (8.2) | <0.001 | 762 (6.8) | 138 (8.8) | 243 (8.4) | 23 (7.1) | 0.002 |
Results reaching significance, p<0.05, are marked in bold.
*Fisher’s exact test.
†Pearson χ2 test.