Table 1.
Prevalence of medical conditions in FAMRI questionnaire participants compared with NHANES 2005-2006 participants
| FAMRI (N = 362) | NHANES 2005-2006 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Medical Condition | N (%) | N (%) | P-value |
| High Blood Pressure | 76 (22.2) | 164 (47.4) | <0.001 |
| Diabetes | 7(2) | 51 (15) | <0.001 |
| High Cholesterol | 110 (32.1) | 148 (48.1) | <0.001 |
| Ischemic Heart Disease | 5 (1.5) | 10 (2.9) | <0.200 |
| Congestive Heart Failure | 0 | 12 (3.5) | <0.001** |
| Abnormal Heart Rhythm | 26 (7.6) | data not available | |
| Asthma | 56 (16.3) | 52 (15) | <0.650 |
| Chronic Bronchitis | 40 (11.7) | 25 (7.2) | <0.050 |
| Emphysema/COPD | 11 (3.2) | 3 (0.9) | <0.030** |
| Sleep Apnea | 25 (7.3) | 23 (6.7) | <0.760 |
| Cancer | 17 (5) | 44 (12.8) | <0.001 |
| Breast Cancer | 7 (2) | 15 (4.3) | <0.090 |
| Thyroid Disease | 41 (12) | 77 (22.3) | <0.001 |
| Sinus Problems | 108 (31.5) | 72 (20.9) | <0.002 |
| Ear Infections | 50 (14.6) | data not available | |
| Chest pain | 64 (19.8) | 99 (30.1) | <0.003 |
| Shortness of breath | 144 (44.3) | 125 (38.2) | <0.115 |
| Nasal congestion, throat or eye irritation † | |||
| Daily | 71 (21.6) | data not available | |
| Weekly | 40 (12.2) | ||
| Monthly | 22 (6.7) | ||
| < Monthly | 93 (28.4) | ||
| Never | 102 (31.1) | ||
The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2005-2006 sample was restricted to women above the age of 18 with at least a high school education and was age and smoking history matched with the Flight Attendant Medical Research Institute (FAMRI) participants. FAMRI participants completed questionnaires between December 2006 and October 2010. Each medical condition represents a lifetime history of diagnosis of that condition, without reference to current vs. past conditions. Chi-square test was performed for comparisons between groups, with the exception of the conditions marked with (**) which were compared using the two-sided Fisher exact test. (†) Percentages of frequency of nasal congestion, throat or eye irritation were determined using the total number of subjects responding to the question N = 328.