Table 5.
Risk of recent symptoms (physical and psychological) and drug use in a population exposed to Eyjafjallajökull volcanic eruption by exposure level at the residence
| Low exposure* |
Medium exposure* |
High exposure* |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OR (95% CI)† | % (n/N) | OR (95% CI)† | % (n/N) | OR (95% CI)† | % (n/N) | |
| Respiratory symptoms‡ | ||||||
| Shortness of breath | 1 (ref) | 2.8 (4/144) | 2.9 (1.0 to 8.5) | 6.8 (41/600) | 3.3 (1.1 to 9.9) | 8.2 (27/330) |
| Feeling of tightness in chest | 1 (ref) | 1.4 (2/145) | 3.4 (0.8 to 15.1) | 3.9 (23/597) | 3.1 (0.7 to 14.5) | 4.0 (13/328) |
| Cough and phlegm‡ | ||||||
| Cough | 1 (ref) | 4.9 (7/143) | 3.6 (1.6 to 8.1) | 15.7 (95/607) | 4.5 (2.0 to 10.2) | 19.1 (64/335) |
| Phlegm | 1 (ref) | 2.8 (4/142) | 4.2 (1.5 to 11.8) | 10.8 (65/603) | 6.0 (2.1 to 17.1) | 15.9 (53/334) |
| Irritation symptoms‡ | ||||||
| Dry throat | 1 (ref) | 2.1 (3/145) | 6.7 (2.0 to 21.6) | 11.2 (68/608) | 6.7 (2.0 to 22.2) | 11.6 (39/336) |
| Eye irritation and itch | 1 (ref) | 8.3 (12/144) | 3.4 (1.8 to 6.5) | 21.5 (130/606) | 3.6 (1.9 to 7.0) | 24.5 (82/335) |
| Skin rash or eczema | 1 (ref) | 2.1 (3/146) | 3.0 (0.9 to 10.1) | 6.0 (36/600) | 4.3 (1.3 to 14.3) | 8.5 (28/329) |
| Musculoskeletal symptoms‡ | ||||||
| Back pain | 1 (ref) | 15.4 (22/143) | 1.3 (0.8 to 2.1) | 18.0 (108/599) | 1.2 (0.7 to 2.1) | 19.8 (66/333) |
| Myalgia | 1 (ref) | 16.6 (24/145) | 1.3 (0.8 to 2.1) | 20.0 (120/600) | 1.3 (0.8 to 2.3) | 22.0 (72/328) |
| Sleep and mental health | ||||||
| Insomnia‡ | 1 (ref) | 6.3 (9/143) | 2.4 (1.2 to 5.0) | 13.8 (83/601) | 2.8 (1.3 to 5.9) | 16.8 (56/334) |
| Psychological morbidity§ | 1 (ref) | 20.0 (30/150) | 1.2 (0.8 to 1.9) | 24.8 (157/634) | 1.3 (0.8 to 2.1) | 26.4 (91/345) |
| Regular drugs use (at least once per week) | ||||||
| Asthma medication | 1 (ref) | 3.9 (6/152) | 0.7 (0.3 to 1.9) | 2.5 (16/644) | 1.2 (0.4 to 3.2) | 4.8 (17/352) |
| Analgesics | 1 (ref) | 7.2 (11/152) | 1.5 (0.7 to 2.9) | 9.0 (58/644) | 1.2 (0.6 to 2.6) | 8.8 (31/352) |
| Any drug for depression, anxiety, sleeping and other mental symptoms | 1 (ref) | 5.3 (8/152) | 3.6 (1.7 to 7.8) | 13.7 (88/644) | 2.8 (1.3 to 6.3) | 13.6 (48/352) |
| Blood pressure-lowering medication | 1 (ref) | 19.7 (30/152) | 1.7 (1.1 to 2.8) | 22.8 (147/644) | 1.4 (0.8 to 2.4) | 23.3 (82/352) |
*Regions are seen in figure 1.
†OR and 95% CI from multivariate logistic regression adjusted for age category, gender, education and smoking status.
‡Answering ‘Yes, to a moderate extent’ or ‘Yes, to much extent’ to the question ‘Have any of the following symptoms disturbed your daily activities during the last month?’.
§Psychological morbidity was derived from GHQ-12 referring to ‘the previous weeks’, using a binary cut-off score of >2.