Skip to main content
. 2007 Oct 9;116(1):45–50. doi: 10.1289/ehp.10355

Table 5.

Associations of microbial agents in floor and chair dust with respiratory, epi-asthma, or current postoccupancy asthma cases in multiple environmental variable models adjusted for age, sex, race, smoking status, and building occupancy time.

OR (95% CI) for different outcome models
Respiratory
Epi-asthma
Postoccupancy asthma
Multiple environmental variable models Floor dust Chair dust Floor dust Chair dust Floor dust Chair dust
Total fungi models
 Total culturable fungi 1.46 (1.02–2.10)** 1.36 (0.99–1.87)* 1.55 (1.05–2.27)** 1.57 (1.09–2.25)** 1.46 (0.88–2.44) 1.60 (0.99–2.58)*
 Ergosterol 1.40 (0.97–2.04)* 1.33 (0.93–1.91) 1.54 (1.02–2.34)** 1.46 (0.96–2.23)* 1.22 (0.71–2.11) 1.48 (0.82–2.67)
 Endotoxin 1.20 (0.75–1.90) 0.91 (0.65–1.27) 1.07 (0.64–1.80) 0.83 (0.57–1.21) 1.05 (0.53–2.08) 0.87 (0.51–1.48)
Hydrophilic fungi models
 Hydrophilic fungia 1.54 (1.05–2.27)** 1.42 (1.03–1.95)** 1.62 (1.06–2.48)** 1.57 (1.11–2.23)** 2.09 (1.15–3.79)** 1.79 (1.12–2.85)**
 Ergosterol 1.41 (0.97–2.05)* 1.32 (0.92–1.89) 1.55 (1.02–2.36)** 1.46 (0.96–2.22)* 1.19 (0.68–2.07) 1.47 (0.81–2.63)
 Endotoxin 1.21 (0.76–1.92) 0.93 (0.67–1.28) 1.10 (0.66–1.84) 0.88 (0.61–1.26) 1.02 (0.51–2.05) 0.87 (0.51–1.47)

ORs and 95% CIs were computed based on change of the IQR in the environmental variable for each model. The number of samples for each model varies: 294 or 295 for respiratory cases, 233 or 234 for epi-asthma cases, and 178 or 179 for postoccupancy asthma cases, depending on the amount of dust available for analyses. Priority for the analysis was endotoxin, culturable fungi, ergosterol, and then allergens. Units of the environmental variables are as follows: CFU/m2 for fungi in floor dust and CFU/chair for fungi in chair dust; EU/m2 for endotoxin in floor dust and EU/chair for endotoxin in chair dust; and ng/m2 for ergosterol in floor dust and ng/chair for ergosterol in chair dust.

a

Includes yeasts, Phoma herbarum, Chaetomium globosum, Mucor plumbeus, Rhizopus stolonifer, and Stachybotrys chartarum.

*

Statistically significant at α = 0.1.

**

Statistically significant at α = 0.05.