Table 2.
Sex-based differences in participant characteristics and distribution of EHS, MCS, and depression
| Variables | Total n = 1095 (100%) |
Male n = 323 (29.5%) |
Female n = 772 (70.5%) |
P |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MCS a | ||||
|
Q1 Chemical intolerance Q2 Other intolerance Q3 Symptom severity Q4 Masking index Q5 Life impact |
23.88 (21.69) 9.58 (9.79) 14.08(13.39) 3.97 (1.65) 6.45 (11.79) |
18.86 (18.78) 7.39 (8.52) 12.06 (11.81) 3.61 (1.63) 5.63 (12.24) |
25.98 (22.48) 10.50 (10.14) 14.93 (13.92) 4.13 (1.63) 6.79 (11.58) |
< 0.001 < 0.001 < 0.001 < 0.001 < 0.001 |
| EHS b | ||||
|
Total EHS symptom score Total EMF-producing objects score q67 Sensitive to EMFs q68 Detailed description |
33.64 (25.53) 3.24 (5.15) 0.28 (0.67) 0.12 (0.33) |
29.34 (22.92) 2.77 (4.99) 0.20 (0.59) 0.07 (0.26) |
35.44 (26.35) 3.44 (5.18) 0.32 (0.70) 0.14 (0.35) |
0.02 0.01 < 0.001 0.01 |
| Depression | 15.81 (5.04) | 15.78 (5.21) | 15.85 (4.97) | 0.95 |
| MCS Case c | ||||
|
- + |
1030 (94.1%) 65 (5.9%) |
310 (96.0%) 13 (4.0%) |
720 (93.3%) 52 (6.7%) |
0.08 |
| EHS Case c | ||||
|
- + |
1037 (94.7%) 58 (5.3%) |
312 (96.6%) 11 (3.4%) |
725 (93.9%) 47 (6.1%) |
0.07 |
| MCS + EHS Casec | ||||
|
- + |
1079 (98.5%) 16 (1.5%) |
323 (100.0%) 0 (0.0%) |
756 (97.9%) 16 (2.1%) |
< 0.01 |
a: N (Mean ± SD); b. Mean (SD); c: N (%)
MCS, multiple chemical sensitivity; EHS, electromagnetic hypersensitivity; EMF, electromagnetic field