Table 3. Demographics of individuals within and outside a GI symptom cluster, Adelaide, Australia (June 2007–August 2008a) (n = 1235).
| Demographic characteristics | People in cluster n = 355 (%) |
People with sporadic GI symptoms n = 211 (%) |
People with no GI symptoms n = 669 (%) |
Risk ratiob (95% CI) |
P value |
| Sex | |||||
| Male | 169 (48) | 104 (50) | 352 (53) | 1.00 | |
| Female | 186 (52) | 107 (51) | 317 (47) | 1.13 (0.96, 1.32) | 0.131 |
| Age | |||||
| <5 years | 78 (22) | 22 (10) | 32 (5) | 2.49 (2.01, 3.05) | <0.001 |
| 5 to 15 years | 131 (37) | 87 (41) | 270 (40) | 1.13 (0.93, 1.37) | 0.208 |
| >15 years | 146 (41) | 102 (48) | 367 (55) | 1.00 | — |
| Attending educational institution | |||||
| Attending child care/kindergarten | 60 (17) | 15 (7) | 23 (3) | 2.32 (1.89, 2.86) | <0.001 |
| Attending primary school or higher educational institution | 147 (41) | 100 (47) | 328 (49) | 0.97 (0.80, 1.18) | 0.76 |
| Not attending any educational institution | 148 (42) | 96 (46) | 318 (48) | 1.00 | — |
Abbreviation: GI, gastrointestinal.
aCluster was defined as >1 person in a household having GI symptoms during the current or previous week.
bRisk ratio for being in a cluster vs not being in cluster (people with sporadic and no GI symptoms combined), using binary regression adjusted for clustered family design.