Associations between farming environment during infancy and lung function at the age of 31 years, stratified by gender
| Farm-related factors during infancy | Women | Men | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | FEV1 difference (mL) | FVC difference (mL) | N | FEV1 difference (mL) | FVC difference (mL) | |
| Adj (95% CI) | Adj (95% CI) | Adj (95% CI) | Adj (95% CI) | |||
| Parental professional farming | ||||||
| No | 2178 | 0 | 0 | 2189 | 0 | 0 |
| Yes | 672 | 38 (2 to 75) | 37 (−4 to 78) | 627 | 31 (−19 to 82) | 44 (−12 to 100) |
| Family had farm animals | ||||||
| No | 1970 | 0 | 0 | 1960 | 0 | 0 |
| Yes | 858 | 49 (15 to 83) | 26 (−12 to 65) | 834 | 11 (−36 to 58) | −6 (−58 to 47) |
| Family had dogs* | ||||||
| No | 1248 | 0 | 0 | 1230 | 0 | 0 |
| Yes | 1513 | 41 (10 to 71) | 48 (12 to 83) | 1482 | 29 (−12 to 70) | 24 (−23 to 71) |
| Family had cats* | ||||||
| No | 1340 | 0 | 0 | 1427 | 0 | 0 |
| Yes | 1403 | 32 (2 to 63) | 40 (5 to 75) | 1237 | 0 (−42 to 42) | −10 (−57 to 38) |
| Number of animal species† | ||||||
| 0 | 730 | 0 | 0 | 746 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | 770 | 42 (2 to 82) | 47 (1 to 94) | 769 | 33 (−20 to 87) | 29 (−32 to 91) |
| 2 | 535 | 65 (20 to 110) | 63 (10 to 115) | 511 | 41 (−21 to 102) | −13 (−83 to 58) |
| 3 | 351 | 93 (40 to 146) | 78 (18 to 139) | 312 | 22 (−51 to 96) | 17 (−67 to 101) |
| 4 or more | 265 | 63 (5 to 122) | 73 (7 to 140) | 220 | 34 (−49 to 117) | 22 (−73 to 117) |
| Number of cows | ||||||
| 0 | 1987 | 0 | 0 | 1983 | 0 | 0 |
| 1–4 | 441 | 50 (6 to 95) | 16 (−33 to 66) | 437 | 8 (−51 to 67) | 9 (−57 to 75) |
| 5 or more | 397 | 50 (7 to 93) | 37 (−14 to 88) | 370 | 15 (−47 to 77) | −7 (−77 to 63) |
Adj: multivariate model, for more detailed information see Methods section.
*Before the age of 7 years.
†Includes cows, pigs, sheep, poultry, minks, cats and dogs.
FEV1, forced expiratory volume in 1 s; FVC, forced vital capacity.