Table 1. Socio-demographic description of the sample (n = 749).

Variable	All n (%)	Men n (%)	Women n (%)	P
Sex	749	322 (43%)	427 (57%)	0.001
Mean age in years (SD)	53.59 (11.09)	54.60 (11.21)	52.83 (10.96)	0.034
Education level ≤9 years	205 (27.4%)	98 (30.4%)	107 (25.1%)	0.0086
Livelihood
Employee	438 (58.5%)	181 (56.2%)	257 (60.2%)	0.28
Self-employed	34 (4.5%)	24 (7.5%)	10 (2.3%)	0.0017
Pensioner	196 (26.2%)	90 (28%)	106 (24.8%)	0.30
Other	77 (10.2%)	26 (8%)	51 (12%)	-
Monthly own income				0.001
<15.000 SEK	186 (24.8%)	49 (15.2%)	137 (32.1%)
15.000–25.000 SEK	286 (38.2%)	106 (32.9%)	180 (42.2%)
25.000–40.000 SEK	195 (26%)	120 (37.3%)	75 (17.6%)
>40.000 SEK	34 (4.5%)	28 (8.7%)	6 (1.4%)
Chronic diseases
Asthma	86 (11.5%)	28 (8.7%)	58 (13.6%)	0.048
COPD *	12 (1.6%)	3 (0.9%)	9 (2.1%)	0.26
Heart failure	3 (0.4%)	1 (0.3%)	2 (0.5%)	0.30
Hypertension	232 (31%)	101 (31.4%)	131 (30.7%)	0.30
Angina pectoris	26 (3.5%)	13 (4%)	13 (3%)	0.30
Cardiac infarction	29 (3.9%)	18 (5.6%)	11 (2.6%)	0.039
Stroke	20 (2.7%)	8 (2.5%)	12 (2.8%)	0.30
Rheumatoid arthritis	31 (4.1%)	6 (1.9%)	25 (5.9%)	0.0055
Diabetes	74 (9.9%)	43 (13.4%)	31 (7.3%)	0.0066
Depression	102 (13.6%)	34 (10.6%)	68 (15.9%)	0.036
Allergic rhinitis	123 (16.4%)	59 (18.3%)	64 (15%)	0.24
Other	327 (43.7%)	123 (38.2%)	204 (47.8%)	0.0097
Regular treatment
Oral	486 (64.9%)	201 (62.4%)	285 (66.7%)	0.15
Inhalation	76 (10.1%)	24 (7.5%)	52 (12.2%)	0.044
Injection	36 (4.8%)	25 (7.8%)	11 (2.6%)	0.0019
Other	100 (13.4%)	40 (12.4%)	60 (14.1%)	0.30
Irregular treatment
Oral	249 (33.2%)	98 (30.4%)	151 (35.4%)	0.18
Inhalation	103 (13.8%)	37 (11.5%)	66 (15.5%)	0.14
Injection	14 (1.9%)	10 (3.1%)	4 (0.9%)	0.058
Other	57 (7.6%)	19 (5.9%)	38 (8.9%)	0.16

*Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.