Table 2.
Health Characteristics at Time of Interview, Demographic Characteristics, and Work Characteristics at Longest Held Job among Persons with Work History, by Disease Group
| Kind of Characteristic | Total | COPD | Asthma | Rhinitis | Non-Respiratory Chronic Conditions1 | No Chronic Conditions | p-value |
| n = 1772 | n = 334 | n = 115 | n = 185 | n = 597 | n = 541 | ||
| Health Characteristics at Time of Interview | |||||||
| SF-12 Physical Component Score, mean (± sd) | 45 (± 12) | 36 (± 13) | 41 (± 13) | 46 (± 12) | 44 (± 12) | 52 (± 7) | p < 0.001 |
| SF-12 Mental Component Score, mean (± sd) | 54 (± 9) | 50 (± 11) | 52 (± 10) | 53 (± 10) | 55 (± 8) | 56 (± 7) | p < 0.001 |
| Comorbid conditions, mean (± sd) | 0.8 (± 1.0) | 1.3 (± 1.1) | 1.0 (± 1.1) | 0.8 (± 0.9) | 0.4 (± 0.7) | ---- | p < 0.001 |
| Smoking Status, n (%) | |||||||
| Never Smoked | 674 (38%) | 60 (18%) | 51 (44%) | 86 (46%) | 243 (41%) | 234 (43%) | p < 0.001 |
| Former Smoker | 751 (42%) | 165 (49%) | 50 (44%) | 72 (39%) | 261 (44%) | 203 (38%) | |
| Current Smoker | 347 (20%) | 109 (33%) | 14 (12%) | 27 (15%) | 93 (15%) | 104 (19%) | |
| Demographic Characteristics | |||||||
| Age at Interview, mean (± sd) | 64 (± 6) | 64 (± 6) | 63 (± 6) | 63 (± 6) | 65 (± 6) | 63 (± 6) | p < 0.001 |
| Male, n (%) | 784 (44%) | 127 (38%) | 38 (33%) | 76 (41%) | 275 (46%) | 268 (50%) | p < 0.001 |
| Race/Ethnicity, n (%) | |||||||
| White, not of Hispanic Origin, and Other | 1585 (89%) | 296 (89%) | 106 (92%) | 165 (89%) | 521 (88%) | 492 (91%) | p = 0.11* |
| Hispanic | 104 (6%) | 13 (4%) | 6 (5%) | 13 (7%) | 42 (7%) | 30 (6%) | |
| African-American | 83 (5%) | 25 (7%) | 3 (3%) | 7 (4%) | 29 (5%) | 19 (3%) | |
| Marital Status, n (%) | |||||||
| Never Married | 61 (3%) | 13 (4%) | 5 (4%) | 3 (2%) | 17 (3%) | 23 (4%) | p = 0.40 |
| Ever Married | 1711(97%) | 321 (96%) | 110 (96%) | 182 (98%) | 58 (97%) | 518 (96%) | |
| Education, n (%) | |||||||
| < HS | 220 (13%) | 65 (19%) | 13 (11%) | 20 (11%) | 76 (13%) | 46 (9%) | p < 0.001 |
| HS Grad | 484 (27%) | 106 (32%) | 25 (22%) | 27 (15%) | 193 (32%) | 133 (25%) | |
| Some College | 567 (32%) | 96 (29%) | 36 (31%) | 65 (35%) | 189 (32%) | 181 (33%) | |
| College Grad | 271 (15%) | 37 (11%) | 14 (12%) | 32 (17%) | 79 (13%) | 109 (20%) | |
| Post-Grad | 230 (13%) | 30 (9%) | 27 (24%) | 41 (22%) | 60 (10%) | 72 (13%) | |
| Work Characteristics at Longest Held Job | |||||||
| Self-Reported Exposure to Vapors, Gases, Dust, or Fumes, n (%) | 709 (40%) | 183 (55%) | 50 (43%) | 67 (36%) | 216(36%) | 193 (36%) | p < 0.001 |
| Occupation, n (%) | |||||||
| Professional or Managerial | 532 (30%) | 81 (24%) | 44 (38%) | 79 (43%) | 141 (24%) | 187 (35%) | p < 0.001 |
| Sales, Administrative, Technical Support | 532 (30%) | 95 (28%) | 30 (26%) | 54 (29%) | 200 (33%) | 153 (28%) | |
| Manual Labor, Operatives, Crafts | 424 (24%) | 92 (28%) | 25 (22%) | 32 (17%) | 149 (25%) | 126 (23%) | |
| Services | 284 (16%) | 66 (20%) | 16 (14%) | 20 (11%) | 1107 (18%) | 75 (14%) | |
| Industry, n (%) | |||||||
| Goods-Producing | 376 (21%) | 89 (27%) | 20 (17%) | 36 (19%) | 118 (20%) | 113 (21%) | p = 0.09 |
| Services | 1396 (79%) | 245 (73%) | 95 (83%) | 149 (81%) | 479 (80%) | 428 (79%) | |
1 Non-respiratory conditions include arthritis, diabetes, congestive heart failure, and coronary artery disease or heart attack.