Table 2.
Characteristics of the study population
| Cases | Controls | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Characteristic | N | % | N | % |
| Total | 490 | 668 | ||
| Gender | ||||
| Male | 162 | 33·1 | 298 | 44·6 |
| Female | 328 | 66·9 | 370 | 55·4 |
| Age (years) | ||||
| 21–29 | 102 | 20·8 | 85 | 12·7 |
| 30–39 | 100 | 20·4 | 163 | 24·4 |
| 40–49 | 121 | 24·7 | 194 | 29·0 |
| 50–59 | 129 | 26·3 | 173 | 25·9 |
| 60–63 | 38 | 7·8 | 53 | 7·9 |
| Parental atopy and/or asthma | 172 | 35·1 | 150 | 22·5 |
| Education1 | ||||
| No voc. schooling | 99 | 20·3 | 106 | 15·9 |
| Vocational course | 82 | 16·8 | 72 | 10·8 |
| Vocational institution | 141 | 28·9 | 188 | 28·2 |
| College-level education | 108 | 22·1 | 200 | 30·0 |
| University or corresponding | 58 | 11·9 | 100 | 15·0 |
| Smoking2 | ||||
| No | 225 | 46·2 | 348 | 52·2 |
| Ex | 127 | 26·1 | 156 | 23·4 |
| Current | 135 | 27·7 | 163 | 24·4 |
| ETS3 | ||||
| In the workplace | 83 | 16·9 | 92 | 13·8 |
| In the home | 29 | 5·9 | 38 | 5·7 |
| Pets at home4 | ||||
| Sometimes | 345 | 73·5 | 432 | 71·1 |
| Any work exposure | 297 | 60·6 | 429 | 64·2 |
1
Information on education was missing for four subjects.
2
Information on smoking was missing for four subjects.
3
ETS = environmental tobacco smoke.
4
Self-reported exposure to sensitizers, dusts and/or fumes, except for exposure to moulds.