Table 1.
Characteristics of children who were and were not seen at age 3 years
| Parental characteristics | Children seen at 3 years (n=1548) |
Children not seen at 3 years (n=320) |
P-value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mother’s age at child’s birth (years), mean (SD) | 30.2 | (3.8) | 29.4 | (3.8) | 0.001 |
| Mother’s educational A Level or above, n (%) | 900 | (57%) | 150 | (47%) | <0.001 |
| Maternal smoking during pregnancy, n (%) | 245 | (16%) | 80 | (27%) | <0.001 |
| Maternal asthma, n (%) | 344 | (22%) | 74 | (24%) | 0.599 |
| Maternal eczema in childhood, n (%) | 275 | (18%) | 50 | (16%) | 0.432 |
| Maternal rhinitis, n (%) | 639 | (42%) | 118 | (38%) | 0.225 |
| Paternal asthma, n (%) | 264 | (17%) | 60 | (20%) | 0.567 |
| Paternal eczema in childhood, n (%) | 156 | (11%) | 31 | (10%) | 0.897 |
| Paternal rhinitis, n (%) | 506 | (34%) | 102 | (34%) | 0.883 |
| Birth characteristics | |||||
| Birth weight (g), mean (SD) | 3525 | (475) | 3456 | (467) | 0.020 |
| Gestational age (weeks), mean (SD) | 40.1 | (1.2) | 40.1 | (1.2) | 0.909 |
| Primiparous, n (%) | 704 | (46%) | 114 | (36%) | 0.001 |
| Attempted breastfeeding, n (%)* | 1269 | (83%) | 162 | (70%) | 0.000 |
| Characteristics at 6 month follow-up * | |||||
| Maternal smoking, n (%) | 284 | (18%) | 73 | (30%) | <0.001 |
| Other smokers in the home, n (%) | 461 | (31%) | 86 | (35%) | 0.145 |
| Ever wheezed, n (%) | 402 | (26%) | 83 | (34%) | 0.013 |
| Cat or dog in home, n (%) | 699 | (45%) | 105 | (43%) | 0.384 |
| Characteristics at 1 year follow-up * | |||||
| Wheezed in past 6 months, n (%) | 464 | (30%) | 80 | (41%) | 0.002 |
| Cat or dog in home, n (%) | 675 | (44%) | 82 | (42%) | 0.575 |
| Characteristics at 2 year follow-up * | |||||
| Wheezed in past year, n (%) | 414 | (27%) | 28 | (27%) | 0.954 |
*
Of the 320 children not seen at 3 years, 247 were seen at 6 months, 196 at 1 year and 104 at 2 years