Table 4. Associations between lifetime occupational exposures and DLCO, stratified according to smoking history.
Exposure Category | Former Smokers Long-term quitters>10 years (n = 93) | Formers Smokers Short-term quitters≤10 years (n = 104) | Current smokers (n = 145) | ||||
Coefficient (95% CI) | P value | Coefficient (95% CI) | P value | Coefficient (95% CI) | P value | ||
Lifetime high exposure to | Biological dust | 18.0 (0.7, 35.4) | 0.042 | −5.1 (−23.5, 13.2) | 0.576 | 2.2 (−8.5, 12.8) | 0.687 |
Mineral dust | 22.2 (10.0, 34.4) | 0.001 | −3.5 (−16.1, 9.0) | 0.573 | 4.0 (−7.12, 15.2) | 0.476 | |
Gases or fumes | 14.6 (−0.4, 29.6) | 0.057 | 10.1 (−0.6, 20.8) | 0.065 | 5.6 (−3.7, 14.9) | 0.233 |
Linear regression models adjusted for sex, age, age2, weight and pack-years smoked. The reference category for all comparisons included participants with no history of high exposure to biological dust, mineral dust, or gases/fumes (n = 110; see Table 2).