Table 1.
Characteristics of the Study Population, Stratified by BeLPT Order Status
| Characteristic | BeLPT Order |
P Valuea | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No (n = 27,530) | Yes (n = 129) | ||
| Age (categorical), y | .57b | ||
| ≤ 30 | 61 (0.2) | 0 (0) | |
| 31-50 | 3,606 (13) | 14 (10.9) | |
| 51-70 | 15,251 (55.5) | 68 (52.7) | |
| > 70 | 8,612 (31.3) | 47 (36.4) | |
| Sex | .40 | ||
| Male | 23,963 (87) | 116 (89.9) | |
| Female | 3,567 (13) | 13 (10.1) | |
| Race | < .001 | ||
| White | 11,954 (43.4) | 81 (62.8) | |
| Black | 13,422 (48.8) | 41 (31.8) | |
| Other or unknown | 2,134 (7.8) | 7 (5.4) | |
| Ethnicityc | .10 | ||
| Hispanic | 659 (2.5) | 6 (4.7) | |
| Non-Hispanic | 25,785 (97.5) | 121 (95.3) | |
| Residence by region | .051 | ||
| South | 13,660 (49.6) | 53 (41.1) | |
| Northeast | 4,421 (16.1) | 18 (14) | |
| Midwest | 5,664 (20.6) | 31 (24) | |
| West | 3,785 (13.7) | 27 (20.9) | |
| Branch of service | .74 | ||
| Air Force | 4,304 (15.5) | 23 (17.8) | |
| Army | 15,381 (55.9) | 66 (51.2) | |
| Marines | 2,804 (10.2) | 15 (11.6) | |
| Navy | 5,041 (18.3) | 25 (19.4) | |
| Nonspecific ICD codes for pneumoconiosis | < .001b | ||
| No | 27,456 (99.7) | 125 (96.6) | |
| Yes | 74 (0.3) | 4 (3.1) | |
| Exposure to embedded fragments | .03 | ||
| No or unknown | 26,653 (96.8) | 120 (93) | |
| Yes | 877 (3.2) | 9 (7) | |
Data are presented as No. (%), unless otherwise indicated. BeLPT = beryllium lymphocyte proliferation test; ICD = International Classification of Diseases.
a
All P values refer to comparisons of patients with sarcoidosis with and without the BeLPT order. P values were calculated by a χ2 test for categorical variables.
b
Fisher exact test.
c
Missing: 1,086 patients with no BeLPT order, compared with only two patients with a BeLPT order.