. 2015 Mar 21;88(8):1165–1173. doi: 10.1007/s00420-015-1047-9

Table 2.

Health and population characteristics for farmers and company workers included in follow-up (FU) or lost to follow-up (LTF) who participated in health examination at baseline

Variable	Class	Total population			Company workers			Farmers
Variable	Class	N	Mean (SD) or n (%)^a	p	N	Mean (SD) or n (%)^a	p	N	Mean (SD) or n (%)^a	p
Age (years)	LTF	124	41.85 (12.5)	0.88	109	41.55 (12.4)	0.24	15	44.03 (13.5)	0.63
Age (years)	FU	259	41.68 (9.8)		179	40.02 (9.6)		80	45.39 (9.2)
Female^b	LTF	124	17 (13.7)	0.55	109	13 (11.9)	0.41	15	4 (26.7)	0.41
Female^b	FU	259	30 (11.6)		179	16 (8.9)		80	14 (17.5)
BMI (kg m⁻²)	LTF	124	26.13 (4.3)	0.90	109	26.14 (4.2)	0.42	15	26.05 (4.9)	0.37
BMI (kg m⁻²)	FU	259	26.08 (3.6)		179	26.52 (3.6)		80	25.10 (3.5)
Current smoker^b	LTF	124	41 (33.1)	0.10	109	40 (36.7)	0.15	15	1 (6.7)	0.31
Current smoker^b	FU	259	65 (25.1)		179	51 (28.5)		80	14 (17.5)
Farm childhood^b	LTF	124	36 (29.0)	<0.01	109	25 (22.9)	<0.01	15	11 (73.3)	0.28
Farm childhood^b	FU	259	148 (57.1)		179	80 (44.7)		80	68 (85.0)
Endotoxin exposure^c (EU m⁻²)	LTF	124	339.00 (6.4)	0.79	109	376.77 (7.0)	0.96	15	157.34 (1.8)	0.22
Endotoxin exposure^c (EU m⁻²)	FU	259	322.36 (5.0)		179	381.34 (5.9)		80	221.34 (2.8)
Asthma^b	LTF	124	10 (8.1)	0.89	109	7 (6.4)	0.54	15	3 (20.0)	0.21
Asthma^b	FU	259	22 (8.5)		179	15 (8.4)		80	7 (8.8)
Wheeze^b	LTF	124	18 (14.5)	0.42	109	14 (12.8)	0.67	15	4 (26.7)	0.17
Wheeze^b	FU	259	30 (11.6)		179	20 (11.2)		80	10 (12.5)
Lung function (% pred.)
FEV1	LTF	124	106.05 (14.1)	0.90	109	105.30 (14.0)	0.46	15	111.49 (14.2)	0.15
FEV1	FU	259	106.24 (15.0)		179	106.61 (15.1)		80	105.41 (15.0)
PEF	LTF	124	113.60 (22.1)	0.03	109	114.10 (22.7)	0.04	15	109.96 (18.1)	0.21
PEF	FU	259	118.38 (19.3)		179	119.31 (20.0)		80	116.29 (17.6)
FVC	LTF	124	112.22 (13.4)	0.58	109	111.19 (12.9)	0.89	15	119.72 (15.3)	0.07
FVC	FU	259	111.39 (13.9)		179	110.96 (14.0)		80	112.36 (13.9)
FE^c_NO (ppb)	LTF	123	16.20 (1.9)	0.13	108	15.71 (1.9)	0.06	15	20.25 (1.9)	0.44
FE^c_NO (ppb)	FU	258	18.07 (1.9)		178	18.29 (1.9)		80	17.58 (1.9)
Allergy^b	LTF	124	33 (26.6)	0.81	109	27 (24.8)	0.72	15	6 (40.0)	0.51
Allergy^b	FU	259	66 (25.5)		179	41 (22.9)		80	25 (31.3)
Hay fever^b	LTF	124	20 (16.1)	0.22	109	15 (13.8)	0.34	15	5 (33.3)	0.10
Hay fever^b	FU	259	30 (11.6)		179	18 (10.1)		80	12 (15.0)
TotIgE^c (IU/ml)	LTF	117	24.35 (9.2)	0.72	102	23.06 (9.4)	0.61	15	35.31 (7.7)	0.55
TotIgE^c (IU/ml)	FU	251	26.43 (7.3)		175	26.45 (8.3)		76	26.38 (5.4)
Atopy^b	LTF	117	22 (18.8)	0.50	102	19 (18.6)	0.35	15	3 (20.0)	0.89
Atopy^b	FU	251	55 (21.9)		175	41 (23.4)		76	14 (18.4)
HDM spec. IgE^b	LTF	117	11 (9.4)	0.30	102	8 (7.8)	0.18	15	3 (20.0)	0.49
HDM spec. IgE^b	FU	251	33 (13.1)		175	23 (13.1)		76	10 (13.2)
Grass pollen spec. IgE^b	LTF	117	17 (14.5)	0.49	102	15 (14.7)	0.92	15	2 (13.3)	0.38
Grass pollen spec. IgE^b	FU	251	30 (12.0)		175	25 (14.3)		76	5 (6.6)

LTF lost to follow-up, FU included in follow-up

^aMean (SD) for continuous variables and n (%) for categorical variables

^bCategorical variable

^cGeometric mean and SD