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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2023 Oct 14.
Published in final edited form as: Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 2012 Oct 1;109(6):420–425. doi: 10.1016/j.anai.2012.09.005

Table 1.

Participants’ characteristics by food and environmental allergy presence, NHANES 2005-2006a

Characteristic All participants
(n=2,211)
Sensitization to food allergens Sensitization to environmental allergens
Yes (n=411) No (n=1,800) P value Yes (n=1,016) No (n=1,195) P value
Age, y 39.5 (0.9) 37.2 (1.1) 39.9 (1.2) .10 37.9 (0.9) 40.7 (1.3) .04
Male sex, % 49 (0.02) 60.7 (0.03) 46.7 (0.02) .003 57.0 (0.02) 42.7 (0.02) <.001
Race/ethnicity, % <.001 .01
 Non-Hispanic white 71.1 (0.03) 61.7 (0.04) 72.8 (0.03) 67.2 (0.04) 74.0 (0.03)
 Non-Hispanic black 11.6 (0.2) 20.0 (0.03) 10.1 (0.02) 14.9 (0.03) 9.2 (0.02)
 Mexican American 8.9 (0.01) 8.9 (0.02) 8.9 (0.01) 8.8 (0.01) 9.0 (0.01)
 Other 8.4 (0.01) 9.4 (0.02) 8.2 (0.01) 9.1 (0.02) 7.8 (0.01)
Low SES,b % 12.8 (0.01) 14.0 (0.01) 12.5 (0.01) .40 13.6 (0.01) 12.1 (0.01) .30
Presence of dichlorophenol metabolites in urine, %c <.001 .047
 Low dichlorophenols (<75th percentile) 79.6 (0.02) 69.5 (0.03) 81.4 (0.02) 77.4 (0.02) 81.2 (0.02)
 One high dichlorophenol (≥75th percentile) 9.0 (0.007) 12.8 (0.02) 8.3 (0.007) 10.6 (0.01) 7.8 (0.007)
 Two high dichlorophenols (≥75th percentile) 11.4 (0.01) 17.7 (0.02) 10.3 (0.01) 12.0 (0.01) 11.0 (0.02)
Vitamin D, % <.005 <.04
 <15 ng/mL 15.0 (0.02) 21.0 (0.03) 13.9 (0.01) 16.5 (0.02) 14.0 (0.01)
 15-29 ng/mL 61.5 (0.01) 60.9 (0.03) 61.6 (0.01) 63.7 (0.02) 59.8 (0.02)
 ≥30 ng/mL 23.5 (0.02) 18.1 (0.02) 24.5 (0.02) 19.8 (0.02) 26.2 (0.02)
Asthma, %d 13.2 (0.01) 20.7 (0.03) 11.8 (0.01) .004 18.5 (0.01) 9.2 (0.01) <.001
Allergies, %d 32.7 (0.01) 42.0 (0.04) 31.1 (0.01) .01 42.9 (0.03) 25.2 (0.01) <.001
Hay fever, %d 11.0 (0.01) 19.3 (0.02) 9.6 (0.01) .002 18.0 (0.01) 6.0 (0.01) <.001
Use products at home to control insects, %e 9.3 (0.01) 6.0 (0.02) 10.0 (0.01) .03 8.7 (0.02) 10.0 (0.01) .50
Use products in garden to control weeds, %e 8.0 (0.01) 7.3 (0.02) 8.9 (0.02) .60 8.1 (0.01) 9.2 (0.01) .50
Residence, % .03 .07
 Urbanf 50.3 (0.08) 55.1 (0.07) 48.3 (0.07) 52.6 (0.07) 47.0 (0.07)
 Ruralg 49.7 (0.08) 44.9 (0.07) 51.7 (0.07) 47.4 (0.07) 53.0 (0.07)

Abbreviations: NHANES, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey; SES, socioeconomic status.

a

All estimates are weighted to the sampling weights. All data is presented as mean (SE).

b

Percentage of participants with a poverty-income ratio of less than 1.0.

c

Presence of dichlorophenol metabolites in urine was defined as levels equal to or above the 75th percentile value.

d

Self-reported allergies, asthma, and hay fever as having been told by a physician.

e

Self-reported use of pesticides in the past 7 days in the home to control insects or on the lawn or garden to control weeds.

f

Densely settled core and the adjacent densely settled surrounding territory (with a density of at least 500 people per square mile) that together have a minimum of 2,500 people.

g

All population located outside the urban residence.