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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2014 Aug 1.
Published in final edited form as: COPD. 2014 Feb 25;11(4):368–380. doi: 10.3109/15412555.2013.813448

Table 5.

Adjusted Odds Ratios for chronic bronchitis† and wheeze‡ with occupational exposure from questionnaire

Characteristic All Males Females Never smokers
Chronic bronchitis n=3508; chronic bronchitis = 280 n=1782; chronic bronchitis = 143 n=1726; chronic bronchitis = 137 n=1581; chronic bronchitis = 91
OR 95% CI OR 95% CI OR 95% CI OR 95% CI
Dust 1.95 1.49–2.55 2.45 1.66–3.61 1.60 1.09–2.33 1.96 1.23–3.12
Vapor-gas 1.54 1.13–2.09 1.87 1.28–2.75 1.11 0.65–1.91 1.33 0.75–2.38
Fumes 1.66 1.25–2.20 1.81 1.24–2.65 1.46 0.95–2.26 1.39 0.82–2.38
Severity of VGDF
 None 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
 Mild 1.83 1.35–2.48 2.14 1.38–3.30 1.58 1.02–2.44 1.12 0.63–1.98
 Moderate 2.04 1.42–2.93 2.73 1.65–4.53 1.48 0.87–2.54 2.25 1.23–4.13
 Severe 1.70 1.00–2.88 1.25 0.54–2.89 2.38 1.17–4.84 3.38 1.43–7.97
 X2-trend, p-value 14.7, p < 0.001 8.1, p < 0.01 6.8, p < 0.01 10.8, p = 0.001
Years exposure VGDF
 None 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
 ≤15 1.57 1.13–2.17 1.77 1.11–2.82 1.36 0.86–2.16 1.23 0.69–2.19
 >15 2.23 1.63–3.03 2.52 1.61–3.94 2.05 1.32–3.19 1.81 1.04–3.13
 X2-trend, p-value 22.9, p < 0.0001 16.6, p < 0.0001 10.1, p < 0.01 5.4, p < 0.05
No. of VGDF agents*
 0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
 1 1.58 1.14–2.20 1.38 0.81–2.35 1.71 1.11–2.63 1.48 0.85–2.60
 2 2.41 1.64–3.56 2.85 1.67–4.87 1.91 1.07–3.41 1.56 0.73–3.30
 3 2.15 1.47–3.15 2.53 1.57–4.08 1.57 0.79–3.14 2.09 1.04–4.18
 X2-trend, p-value 22.9, p < 0.0001 18.6, p < 0.001 5.1, p < 0.05 4.8, p < 0.05
Wheeze n=3508; wheeze = 488 n=1783; wheeze = 219 n=1726; wheeze = 269 n=1564; wheeze = 156
OR 95% CI OR (95% CI) OR (95% CI) OR (95% CI)
Dust 1.76 1.43–2.18 2.13 1.54–2.95 1.56 1.17–2.08 1.83 1.28–2.63
Vapor-gas 1.62 1.26–2.07 1.65 1.20–2.28 1.52 1.03–2.23 1.32 0.84–2.08
Fumes 1.53 1.21–1.92 1.60 1.16–2.21 1.43 1.02–2.01 1.64 1.09–2.47
Severity of VGDF
 None 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
 Mild 1.67 1.30–2.14 2.0 1.37–2.90 1.46 1.04–2.04 1.39 0.90–2.13
 Moderate 1.95 1.45–2.61 2.61 1.69–4.03 1.54 1.02–2.32 1.98 1.20–3.27
 Severe 3.15 2.16–4.60 3.03 1.75–5.26 3.52 2.04–6.07 4.55 2.35–8.81
 X2-trend, p-value 44.6, p < 0.0001 25.5, p < 0.0001 18.9, p < 0.0001 20.6, p < 0.0001
Years exposure VGDF
 None 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
 ≤15 1.97 1.54–2.53 2.60 1.79–3.79 1.51 1.07–2.13 1.72 1.09–2.70
 >15 1.92 1.48–2.48 1.93 1.31–2.85 2.04 1.44–2.90 1.55 0.97–2.48
 X2-trend, p-value 28.9, p < 0.0001 12.5, p < 0.0001 16.9, p < 0.0001 8.2, p < 0.01
No. of VGDF agents*
 0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
 1 1.84 1.42–2.37 2.23 1.47–3.37 1.62 1.16–2.25 1.72 1.12–2.63
 2 1.75 1.25–2.45 2.09 1.28–3.41 1.52 0.95–2.45 1.66 0.92–2.97
 3 2.14 1.57–2.90 2.41 1.60–3.63 1.92 1.17–3.16 2.11 1.22–3.67
 X2-trend, p-value 27.2, p < 0.0001 17.3, p < 0.0001 9.5, p < 0.01 8.8, p < 0.01
†

Odds ratios for MRC defined chronic bronchitis adjusted for age, race/ethnicity, BMI, smoking status, cigarette pack-years, pipe-years, cigar-years, environmental tobacco smoke, and education.

‡

Odds ratios for wheeze in last 12 months adjusted for age, race/ethnicity, BMI, smoking status, cigarette pack-years, pipe-years, cigar-years, environmental tobacco smoke, and education.

*

The number of VGDF agent was determined by exposure to vapor-gas, dust, and/or fumes.